Director S Shankar's downfall has been drastic but not sudden. He has now become synonymous with the clinical Indian 2 and the soulless Game Changer. Even before these two duds, the quality of his filmography had been on a terminal decline. 2.0 was a commercial hit, but it was not a huge achievement if you optimize its box-office numbers for the genre, Rajinikanth's craze, and its massive budget.
Shankar's films started showing signs of deterioration after the demise of writer Sujatha Rangarajan. A novelist of repute in Tamil, Sujatha worked on Bharateeyudu/Indian, Oke Oakkdu/Mudhalvan, Boys, Sivaji: The Boss and Enthiran: The Robot. (He also worked on Mani Ratnam's Kannathil Muthamittal, Aayitha Ezhuthu, etc., by the way)
Many critics and long-time fans note the absence of the legendary writer, who passed away in 2008. Without his sharp dialogue and grounding touch, the screenplay for 2.0 felt flat, predictable, and overly reliant on visual gimmicks to move the plot forward. The less said about Indian 2 and Game Changer, the better. Shankar and AR Rahman seem to have parted ways, by the way.
