I’m Game (2026), fails to connect despite Dulquer

I’m Game (2026) should have been an engaging thriller, but it never connected with me. The only thing that kept me in my seat was Dulquer Salmaan‘s excellent performance in the action sequences. At nearly three hours, the film’s running time was a pain to endure. Mangoidiots gives it a Rotten.

Every setting in the film felt off: the hero’s house, the gambling bar, even the hospital physiotherapy room. None of it felt real, and the artificial feel of the locations never let me settle into the story.

Dulquer Salmaan plays Dan John, son of a super-rich businessman, yet the parents and son argue over a sum of less than a crore of rupees. That is where my disconnect with the lead character began. Throughout the film, I could not tell whether Dan was an irresponsible, spoilt brat, a traumatised child, or an ambitious young man. Mysskin plays David Abraham, the villain and owner of a cricket team franchise, but he acts more like a gangster than a corporate boss. Kayadu Lohar plays Isha, a lost soul in this film, and what her purpose is remains a mystery. Even the second hero’s girlfriend has been given a role in the film. Samyuktha Viswanathan as Tharini has done her role well.

Director Nahas Hidhayath would do himself a favour by watching Eega (2012) to see how an engaging revenge story can be told beyond one’s own death.

The second half, especially the cricket match and the sequences before and after it, dragged on far longer than needed. When the second hero, a cricket player, first appeared, I expected we would only see his jersey number and his batting hand, keeping the focus on Dan’s character. Instead, we get his entire biography. The suspense in the second half was also visible from a mile away.

I’m Game had the ingredients of a gripping thriller but never used them well. A confused lead character, an overstuffed second half, and a runtime that overstays its welcome leave Dulquer Salmaan’s action sequences as the only reason to sit through it.