When the project was announced under the tentative title RC15,[a] it was initially speculated that Anirudh Ravichander would compose music for the film after he previously associated with Shankar on Indian 2 (2024).[1] Later, on that March, Shankar's norm collaborator A. R. Rahman was also considered to score music for the film.[2] This was also speculated, when Rahman replied to a fan through X (formerly Twitter), anticipating his return to Telugu cinema.[3] On July 2021, it was announced that Thaman S would compose the music for the film.[4]
The film is Thaman's first musical collaboration, along with his second overall collaboration, with Shankar, after making his acting debut in Boys (2003) and third collaboration with Charan after Naayak (2013) and Bruce Lee: The Fighter (2015).[5] Speaking to Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu, Thaman recalled that Rahman had called him on 1 April 2021 (April Fools' Day) that he wanted to compose music for Shankar's film, assuming it to be a prank.[6] However, the producer Dil Raju called Thaman to meet Shankar at his residence on Chennai; Thaman who was re-recording the score for Vakeel Saab (2021) eventually met Shankar who asked him to compose a tune for the film. After finishing the tune, Shankar eventually impressed with it and confirmed his part in the film.[6] Shankar's insistence on Thaman being involved in the project, was attributed to his liking on Thaman's compositions on Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo (2020).[6]
Production
"Working for Shankar sir’s film is like working in a different world. Just like how technicians change hard disks for different works, I have to change my hard disk (brain) while working for Shankar sir’s film."
Game Changer's soundtrack featured around eight songs.[7] Thaman composed three songs each at specific intervals on March, April and July 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.[6] The latter, being an introductory song which was recorded on 14–15 July 2021 in Hyderabad, with the help of 135 musicians.[8] By April 2022, he had composed around five songs for the film, which he called it as the fastest music composition for any of his films.[6] As he designed the album exclusively for Shankar, Thaman had to change the sonic treatment of his music, making it different from his previous films.[citation needed] On 19 September 2024, Thaman took to X (formerly Twitter) that the recording of the film's background score would commence from 1 October 2024.[9]
A special song which featured the lead pair under Martis' choreography and was filmed at New Zealand cost ₹15 crore (US$1.8 million).[14][15] The song "Jaragandi" was reportedly made on a budget of ₹15–20 (US$1.8–24 million) becoming one of the most-expensive songs ever produced.[16][17] It featured Charan and Advani, with choreography by Deva, and the song was shot at a specially erected set at Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad.[17] The song "Raa Macha Macha", under Acharya's choreography, was shot at various locations in and around Visakhapatnam which includes: Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management, Simhachalam Hill Range and RK Beach.[12] In an interaction with Thaman, Shankar revealed that Charan had danced for an entire piece of the song's bit in a single shot.[18][19] Charan also recreated Chiranjeevi's veena step from the song "Dayi Dayi Damma" featured in Indra (2002).[20][21]
Marketing and release
The audio rights for the film were acquired by Saregama.[22] Prior to its release, the song "Jaragandi" was leaked online on 16 September 2023,[23][16] which led to the arrest of two individuals for leaking the footage and prompting the makers to take action against such incidents. On the occasion of Dusshera (23 October 2023), it was announced that the song would be released as a single on Diwali (12 November 2023).[24] However, the highly negative response from the audience prompted Thaman to change the singers, delaying the official release of the song.[25] The delay was attributed to audio documentation issues, as the leaked version of the song received negative response prompting Thaman to change the singers.[26] The leaked version initially had vocals by Anurag Kulkarni and Sunidhi Chauhan, before Daler Mehndi replaced Kulkarni's vocals in the Telugu version.[citation needed] It was released on 27 March 2024, on the occasion of Charan's 39th birthday to mixed reviews criticizing it's composition.[27]
On the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi (7 September 2024), the makers released a poster indicating that the second single from the film will be released later this month.[28][29] On 25 September, the song's title was revealed as "Raa Macha Macha",[30] and the promo was released on 28 September.[31][32] Two three-minute videos titled Sounds of Game Changer—an interaction between Shankar and Thaman, and Raju and lyricist Anantha Sriram, describing the making of the song—was released.[33][34] The second single titled "Raa Macha Macha" was released on 30 September 2024 to mixed reviews from critics criticizing its composition and lyrics, calling it "outdated and ordinary", but received praise for its visuals and making.[35] The launch was coincided with a launch event held at St. Martin's Engineering College in Hyderabad with Shankar, Raju, Thaman, Sriram, S. J. Suryah and Srikanth in attendance.[36] The third single "Naa Naa Hyraanaa" was released on 28 November 2024.[37] The fourth single, titled "Dhop", was released on 22 December 2024.[38] The full album consisting of seven songs was released on 4 January 2025.[39]
