Archive · 3 Sep 2026
I'm Game Review: Dulquer Salmaan's Risky Gamble Falls Short
I'm Game is about a man named Dan who treats every decision like a bet.
He loses a lot of money and tries to win it back through cricket betting.
His biggest bet goes wrong, and he has a serious accident.
Dan survives but receives a stranger's hand through a transplant.
The hand seems to affect his life in strange ways.
Dulquer Salmaan is praised for showing Dan's confidence, fear and confusion.
The movie also has stylish sets, costumes, music and visual effects.
However, the story becomes confusing and less interesting later.
The review concludes that the film's unusual idea does not fully succeed.
Dulquer Salmaan returns to Malayalam cinema after three years in Nahas Hidhayath's I'm Game.
The film follows Dan John, a compulsive gambler who turns to cricket betting after losing Rs 1.5 crore.
A disastrous bet leads to an accident and a hand transplant that drives the film's supernatural turn.
The review praises Dulquer's emotionally committed performance and the film's production values.
The screenplay is criticized for becoming convoluted, predictable and stretched in the second half.
- Who
- Dulquer Salmaan plays Dan John in a film directed by Nahas Hidhayath and written by Ismail Aboobacker, Sajeer Baba, Nahas Hidhayath and Bilal Moidu.
- What
- I'm Game is a Malayalam commercial film about gambling, cricket betting, an accident and a mysterious hand transplant.
- When
- The article says Dulquer Salmaan is returning to Malayalam cinema after three years; it does not give a release date.
- Where
- The story is set around gambling and cricket-betting environments, while the film marks Dulquer Salmaan's return to Malayalam cinema.
- Why
- Dan turns to cricket betting after losing Rs 1.5 crore and needing to repay a loan shark.
The Film's Strengths
The Film's Weaknesses
Lead performance
The Film's Strengths
Dulquer Salmaan is praised for fully embodying Dan's changing personality and conveying confusion, fear and helplessness through his expressions and body language.
The Film's Weaknesses
The film rests largely on Dulquer's performance, suggesting that his work has to compensate for weaknesses in the story and screenplay.
Premise and presentation
The Film's Strengths
The film combines a charismatic star, gambling, cricket betting, action, romance, revenge and a hand-transplant mystery, supported by lavish sets, stylish costumes, visual effects and Jakes Bejoy's music.
The Film's Weaknesses
The unusual premise is not matched by an engaging screenplay; the second half becomes convoluted, predictable and burdened by clichés.
Audience engagement
The Film's Strengths
The first half gains momentum during Dan's cricket-betting activities and the hand transplant, with the interval ending on a high point.
The Film's Weaknesses
The narrative loses its grip in the second half, and the audience may lose interest before the story returns to the present.
- Lead actor
- Dulquer Salmaan
- Director
- Nahas Hidhayath
- Character
- Dan John
- Initial debt
- Rs 1.5 crore owed to a loan shark
- Money from Dan's mother
- Rs 60 lakh
- Main genres and elements
- Action, romance, revenge, gambling, cricket and fantasy
- Review assessment
- Dulquer's performance and the production values are praised, but the screenplay is judged weak overall