I’m Game Movie Review

Dulquer Salmaan is a superstar in the Malayalam film industry, but his last Malayalam hit was way back in 2021. After the blockbuster success of Kurup(2021), his next Malayalam film in a lead role was King of Kotha in 2023 but it failed to live up to expectations. In between, he scored two huge successes in Telugu in lead roles, Sita Ramam(2022) and Lucky Baskhar(2024). After a gap of about three years in Malayalam, he came up with ‘I’m Game’, an action fantasy thriller, in the direction of Nahas Hidhayath, who delivered a huge blockbuster, RDX(Robert Dony Xavier), in Malayalam in 2023. Kayadu Lohar, played the lead actress role while Antony Varghese, Mysskin, Samyuktha Viswanathan and Kathir played crucial roles in the film. After creating enough curiosity with an interesting and stylish trailer, the makers released the film in theatres today. Did Dulquer Salmaan, score a blockbuster after five years in Malayalam with I’m Game? Did the director, Nahas Hidhayath, deliver yet another hit after RDX? Did Kayadu Lohar, score a hit on her Malayalam debut? Let’s figure it out with a detailed analysis.

What is it about?

Dan John(Dulquer Salmaan) is a habitual gambler who loses money all the time. He’s the son of a wealthy businessman but aims to make a name for himself without using his father’s name or influence. At a time when he has to clear a huge debt within twenty-four hours, he puts the sixty lakh rupees that he has with him, into cricket betting and ends up losing the money. With no other way, he decides to threaten the cricket betting club management, take the money he lost and run away from the club. While running away, he ends up in an accident and loses his hand. The doctors find a donor and perform a hand transplant on Dan. What challenged Dan face after the hand transplant? Why does the transplanted hand start to control Dan’s actions? Who was the donor? What is the donor’s backstory? What is the connection between the donor and Dan? Forms the rest of the story.

Performances:

Dulquer Salmaan’s performance in the role of Dan is first-rate until the post-interval sequence. His style, swag and performance during the thrilling portions were great to watch. Unfortunately, he hardly gets any screen time during the last hour of the film. Antony Varghese in a crucial role performed well. His body language as a cricketer looked believable. Kayadu Lohar in the female lead role looked good as always and did a good job with her performance within her role’s limitations. Samyuktha Viswanathan in a very crucial role did a very good job with her performance. Especially, her performance in a couple of emotional sequences, deserves special mention.

The Tamil film director, Mysskin performed well in the antagonist role. However, his performance during the climax appeared loud and over the top. Senior actress, Jaya Sudha, in a brief role made her presence felt. Kathir in a crucial role did a good job with her performance.

Technicalities:

Jakes Bejoy’s background score worked out well during the first half but his score for the second half could have been better. The songs he scored by him were alright. However, it would have been better had the director avoided songs completely. The songs in the film, appeared as speed bumps to the narration. Editing by Chaman Chakko is the biggest drawback of the film. There were quite a few repetitive sequences and lengthy action episodes throughout the film. Better editing and a crisp runtime could have done a world of good to the film. Cinematography by Jimshi Khalid and Jomon T. John, was good. The visuals looked rich and very trendy throughout. Let’s discuss the director and his writing team’s work in detail in the analysis section.

Positives:

1.⁠ ⁠First Half
2.⁠ ⁠Dulquer’s Performance

Negatives:

1.⁠ ⁠Second Half
2.⁠ ⁠Predictable Backstory
3.⁠ ⁠Excessive Runtime
4.⁠ ⁠Dragged-Out Action Episodes

Analysis:

An interesting concept as a storyline, a screenplay that does not deviate from the core point and an execution that is far away from the usual run-of-the-mill films that we see from other indian film industries – are a few of the things that we as an audience expect when we step into a theatre to watch a Malayalam film. Especially, when the film is directed by a promising director like Nahas Hidhayath, the least the audience expects is a thrilling film. Right from the opening sequence up until the post-interval sequence, I’m Game, ticks all the boxes which the audience expects from a Malayalam film. The fantasy thriller concept, the execution and the lead actor’s performance until the post-interval sequence, worked out very well. Unfortunately, the film lost track completely after the post-interval sequence and gets very predictable. The proceedings during the last hour test the patience with a very unexciting backstory and dragged-out action episodes.

The film starts on an interesting note with an emotional and thrilling sequence and then we get to see the phrase ‘The hand expresses what the heart already knows’, on screen. The Introduction of the lead actor as a habitual gambler with a never-give-up attitude, followed by a tragic accident, a hand transplant and the introduction of the Alien hand syndrome concept- the director executed all of these episodes in a very interesting manner. The proceedings get very interesting and thrilling, once the lead character gets to know about the alien hand syndrome. Dulquer’s performance, built-in swag, and screen presence along with the director’s ability to create thrilling moments, looked so good to see on screen once the ‘hand’ start to control the lead character. The suspense and tension were built very well by the director and he made the audience sit on the edge of their seats wondering why the hand was misbehaving. Though there were at least a couple of sequences that were dragged out a bit, up until the post-interval sequence, the film gives a satisfactory feeling.

Malayalam filmmakers maybe are very good at coming up with out-of-the-box ideas but more often than not in the recent past, they failed to engage the audience when the film gets into the typical ‘commercial entertainer’ zone. It happened with Prithviraj Sukumaran’s ‘I, Nobody’, in July this year and now with ‘I’m Game’. The directors of both films are different both of them messed up the films big time in the second half after a promising first half. The biggest drawback of the film is the backstory and the way it is executed. The backstory, the conflict point, the cricket matches, the emotions, the action episodes and everything else during the last about an hour or so unfold on a very familiar note and at a very leisurely pace. There was not even a single episode that had the potential to excite the audience during the last hour of the film. Especially, the drama in the backstory tests patience after a point and the dragged-out lengthy action episode during the climax of the film, makes us feel restless. It seemed like the director and his writing team thought that the audience would ignore the predictability because of relatability around cricket and the IPL(CPL) matches. There was an attempt to invoke the audience’s emotions with the dialogue ‘Cricket is not just for freaking entertainment. It is an emotion’, but it did not work. Another drawback of the film is its three-hour runtime. A thriller film works when the runtime is crisp and the execution is engaging. Unfortunately, the director filled the film with quite a few repetitive sequences and unexciting and forever dragged action episodes.

Overall, I’m Game appeared promising in the first half with quite a few thrilling moments but the predictable execution during the second half along with unnecessary commercial elements, worked against the film. Especially, the film tests patience after a point with repetitive sequences. Better care in editing, a crisp runtime and an engaging backstory, could have made the film a memorable one but what we eventually got to see is a film which does not use its interesting core point to its full potential.

Bottom Line – ‘Game’ Lost In Second Innings

Rating – 2.25/5

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