32M with UK Master's degree but can't land interviews - is my friend's career dead before it started?

Hey everyone, posting here because my friend is genuinely desperate for advice and don't know where else to turn. He don't have reddit and almost dead inside and I am posted on behalf of him.

He's 32, finished his Master's from a reputable UK university two years ago. Before that, he worked for 5 years in India with small local companies (all under 20 employees). He thought getting his Master's in the UK would open doors, but he have been applying for jobs for an year now and he is not getting ANY interviews. Not even rejections sometimes just silence. During his Master's, he was active in the student union and built up what I thought was a solid CV with extracurriculars, thinking this would help him stand out. But it feels like none of it matters.

His background:

• 5 years work experience (small companies, no big corporate names)
• Master's degree from [tier 1] UK university
• Student leadership and extracurricular experience
• No multinational corporate experience on his resume

He is willing to relocate anywhere, take a pay cut, start from a junior position , anything to just get his foot in the door and build a real career. But he can't even get to the interview stage. Is it his lack of "brand name" companies on his CV? His age? The gap in understanding what UK/Western employers want? Should he be applying differently?

Honest question: is it over for someone in his position, or is there still a path forward? What would you do if you were him?

Any advice would be genuinely appreciated.