In 2022, the theatrical rights of Radhe Shyam were sold for Rs 210 Cr. The movie, starring Prabhas and Pooja Hegde as a star-crossed romantic pair, did just Rs 85 Cr (Share). It was declared a double disaster at the box office. The Hindi version got pummelled by The Kashmir Files. The quantum of loss suffered by its distributors was upwards of Rs 100 Cr.
For the first time since that film, another pan-Indian film from Tollywood has acquired that distinction. It is Game Changer. The film, starring Ram Charan in a dual role, was released in theatres on January 10. The movie's theatrical run ran into trouble with Daaku Maharaaj and Sankranthiki Vasthunam garnering positive 'word of mouth'. The latter effectively ended its relevance at the box office. The Hindi version didn't catch up after a decent start in the first weekend.
Radhe Shyam and Game Changer were in the making for long periods of time, preventing their respective lead men from exploring more. Produced respectively by UV Creations and Sri Venkateswara Creations, they both ran into delays because of external factors: Radhe Shyam suffered due to Covid-19, while Game Changer got delayed because Shankar was caught up with Indian 2 due to judicial intervention.
