Months after the release of Game Changer, the Telugu film starring Ram Charan and directed by S. Shankar, the film’s original editor Shameer Muhammed has publicly criticized the director, calling the experience of working with him “terrible” and “unprofessional.” Shameer revealed that despite spending almost a year in Chennai working on the film, he eventually walked out due to scheduling conflicts and the filmmaker’s lack of professionalism.
Game Changer editor slams S Shankar
Speaking to Kaumudy Movies, Shameer shared, “It was during the last six months that they said I would need to stay for another month. I had prior commitments in Kerala, so I returned. When I started editing, the film was around 7 to 7.5 hours long. I brought it down to three and a half hours. Later, another editor joined and further trimmed it to 2.5 to 3 hours.”
He went on to detail his experience with the senior director,“It was a terrible experience working with Shankar. I went in with great excitement, but things were happening in a completely different world. He would fix a date for editing, but show up ten days later. This continued for days, and I ended up staying in Chennai for 300 to 350 days.”
Once Shameer exited the project, editor Ruben was brought in to take over. “Looking back, it would’ve been a huge mistake if I had left ARM and Marco for Game Changer,” he added. Both ARM and Marco were major hits in the Malayalam film industry in 2024.
S. Shankar on the film`s outcome
Director S. Shankar, known for iconic films like Kadhalan, Nayak, Anniyan, Sivaji: The Boss, and Enthiran, had earlier expressed dissatisfaction with the final cut of Game Changer. In an interview with Behindwoods TV, he admitted that the film had to be trimmed significantly, which impacted its quality.
“I’m not completely satisfied with the output of Game Changer. I should have done better. Many good scenes had to be trimmed due to time constraints. The total duration was more than five hours, and we had to cut it down to shape it like a sculpture,” Shankar said.