A gambler who trusts luck more than life gets caught in a series of crazy and unexpected events that turn his world upside down. That’s the pitch for “I’m Game,” and Nahas Hidayath’s film spends nearly three hours trying to live up to it. The result is a thriller that knows how to stage a bet but struggles to make any of it matter.
Dulquer Salmaan plays Dan John, the fearless man at the center of the chaos. Kayadu Lohar plays Isha, and Antony Varghese plays Vignesh “Vicky” Das. Mysskin plays David Abraham, Kathir plays Jason Antony, and Samyuktha Viswanathan plays Tharini. The film was released on 2026-09-03, runs 173 minutes, and carries a tagline that promises the game is on — but the game never quite gets off the ground.
Dan John’s World
Dan John is a man who lives by luck, not by planning. He trusts the roll of the dice more than he trusts his own instincts. That premise should be the engine of the film. Instead, it becomes a reason for Hidayath to pile on twists, turns, and revelations that feel less like a story and more like a checklist of things a thriller ought to have.
The opening half-hour tests your patience in a world accustomed to instant gratification. The film spends its early stretches laying out Dan’s world, his debts, his rivals, and his schemes, but it never commits to any of it. Characters are introduced with a rush of exposition and then left to drift until the next turn of the plot. The audience score sits at 6.6 out of 10 from a small sample of votes, and that number feels about right — the film is watchable, but it rarely earns the attention it demands.
The Writing Problem
The writing is flat. Screenwriters Sajeer Baba, Ismail Aboobacker and Bilal Moidu fail to create the tension that should accompany each gambling sequence. A film about chance and stakes should make the audience feel the pressure of every bet. Instead, the film treats its own premise as a costume, dressing its action scenes in the trappings of a gamble without ever making the audience believe in the stakes.
There are moments where the film shows real ambition. A sequence involving a high-stakes game of chance is staged with real energy, and the tension that should build between the lines of dialogue never quite arrives. The problem is structural, not stylistic. Hidayath is clearly trying to do something new with the action-film formula, but the script keeps getting in his way.
Hidayath’s Strengths
Nahas’s biggest strength is his ability to play with action-film tropes. In “RDX,” the relationship of Robert, played by Shane Nigam, with his family and his love interest, Mini, keeps the movie emotionally charged. That film knew what it wanted to be, and it was willing to commit to it. Here, the same director is working with a premise that is less comfortable, and the commitment is not there.
The film is at its best when it stops explaining itself and starts showing Dan in motion. A chase sequence in the middle of the runtime is the film’s high point, a real display of energy and choreography that suggests what the movie could have been if the script had trusted its own premise. Instead, the film keeps circling back to the same beats — the setup, the reveal, the twist — until they lose their force.
Where the Film Falls Short
The screenplay is the fatal flaw. The pacing suffers because the story keeps stopping to explain itself. Dan John is a man who lives by luck, but the script is far more comfortable with exposition than with suspense. Every turn is telegraphed before it arrives, and the audience is never left wondering what comes next — they are told.
The predictable narrative is a problem that runs through the whole runtime. A film about a fearlessly reckless gambler should be unpredictable, should keep the audience off balance. This one is anything but. The audience knows where the story is going, and the script never does anything to make them doubt that destination.
The Ensemble
Salmaan is the reason the film works at all. He gives Dan John a presence that commands the screen even when the script does not give him much to work with. His performance is the most consistent element of a film that is otherwise unhinged. Kayadu Lohar and Antony Varghese round out the ensemble, but the film never gives them room to make their characters feel lived-in.
Samyuktha Viswanathan’s Tharini and Kathir’s Jason Antony are introduced and then left to fade into the background of the plot. The film’s ensemble is a strength on paper, but it never coheres into a group that feels like it matters.
The Score
The background score, whatever it may be, is a distinct strength of the film. The film’s sound design pushes the action forward, even when the story is lagging. That score is the one element of the film that never lets the audience down, and it carries the film’s quieter stretches more than any other part of it. It is a technical achievement, and it deserves credit for keeping the audience engaged when the script is not.
The action sequences, when they arrive, are well-choreographed and energetic. The film knows how to stage a chase, a fight, or a confrontation. But the film never quite connects those sequences to the stakes of its own story. A thrilling sequence is not the same as a thrilling story, and the film does not always seem to understand the difference.
The Verdict
“I’m Game” is a film that knows how to look like a thriller and does not know how to be one. Dulquer Salmaan is the reason it is worth watching, and Nahas Hidayath is a director with real visual instincts. The script, though, is the weak link — a flat, predictable script that never lets the premise reach its full potential.
The film’s 6.6 audience score from a small sample of votes is fair. It is watchable, even entertaining in stretches, but it is not a film that rewards close attention. The film’s box office is ₹47.35 crore — a figure that tells us the audience showed up, even if the film did not earn their full attention.
The film’s flaws are not minor. A flat screenplay, predictable pacing, and a narrative that never quite commits to its own premise are the kind of faults that sink a film, not the kind that can be papered over with a good score or a charismatic lead. The film is at its best when it stops explaining itself and starts showing Dan in motion — a chase sequence in the middle of the runtime, a tense sequence involving a high-stakes game of chance that suggests what the movie could have been if the script had trusted its own premise.
The Numbers
- Title: I’m Game (2026)
- Director: Nahas Hidayath
- Screenwriters: Sajeer Baba, Bilal Moidu, Ismail Aboobacker
- Release date: 2026-09-03
- Runtime: 173 minutes
- Audience score: 6.6/10 from 5 TMDB votes
- Box office: ₹47.35 crore
The film is out now, and audiences are already voting with their attention. The film’s box office is ₹47.35 crore — a figure that tells us the audience showed up, even if the film did not earn their full attention.
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