‘I’m Game’ movie review: Dulquer Salmaan-starrer squanders a winning idea

Grabbing an audience by the collar and taking them along the way is no easy task. In I’m Game, Nahas Hidhayath had an idea that could do just that, though Hollywood has dabbled with similar themes before. But unfortunately, the filmmaker holds on to his fascinating concept for only a while before loosening his grip and veering off into familiar narrative patterns.

Dan John (Dulquer Salmaan), a spoilt child of a rich family, runs a company just as his father wished, but his heart lies in gambling like there is no tomorrow. Despite his wealthy background, his gambling habit leaves him neck-deep in debt. But something bizarre happens to him, changing his life’s trajectory, as well as that of quite a few others.

For Dulquer Salmaan, making his appearance in Malayalam cinema after a while, this was a perfect comeback opportunity, with his character having immense scope for humour and action. The film does offer them for a while before getting derailed. 

Nahas Hidayath debuted with RDX, a film with a bare-minimum story that gave the audience the emotional need to root for the three protagonists during the lengthy action sequences. However, in I’m Game, despite the multiple story threads and ideas, everything happens at a distance, with the audience remaining untouched by what happens to any of the characters. This also makes the slickly edited and shot action sequences feel a bit stretched after a point.

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One of the strangest writing decisions screenwriters Sajeer Baba, Ismail Aboobacker and Bilal Moidu make is the lengthy flashback story revolving around betting in a major cricket league. What could have been told in a few cleverly shot scenes is presented as a full-blown narrative. With an over-melodramatic romance also thrown in the mix, the core supernatural story takes a backseat, and Dulquer’s character disappears from the screen for quite a long time. The film never really recovers from the dip it suffers during this phase, where we are made to wait till the flashback meanders to a predictable end.

The hope that things would change for the better after the extended flashback goes in vain as the writers let go of the interesting core concept and focus on a run-of-the-mill revenge story. In the end, the only real creative spark was in the supernatural idea, with a lot of generic elements woven around it. Human greed, the behavioural change of a spoilt rich kid, and the corrosive influence of money on sports are left unexplored after they are briefly addressed.

In I’m Game, Nahas Hidayath loses the bird in his hand, chasing two in the bushes.

I’m Game is currently running in cinemas.