In I, Nobody’s prerelease interviews, Prithviraj had said that it is difficult to confine the film to a single genre. Well, when I watched the movie, that claim completely made sense as it was transitioning from one genre to another, and some of the genres have a very contrasting nature. Like you won’t expect a movie that plays with satire to have a serious dysfunctional family drama portion. If you have seen some of the Shankar movies off late, you may have felt that he is wasting the money on flashiness and he could have grounded such grand concepts. To some extent, the thoughts in this Nisam Basheer movie share such aspirations. I, Nobody, have innovative writing with the flavor of mainstream cinema. However, the genre shifts are not happening smoothly.
Rajeevan is a normal guy who works in the secretariat, and his wife is also an earning member who works in a bank. One fine day, Rajeevan got involved in a bank heist as he was the one held hostage by the robbers. The police couldn’t find the money those people looted from the bank, and that eventually led to a scenario where Rajeevan came under suspicion. How this situation changed the life of someone like Rajeevan and his family is what we witness in I, Nobody.
Some of the assumptions we may have about the movie after having seen the trailer are addressed in the first half itself. And even the things that are hidden from the trailer, which we may think we decoded immediately, are being acknowledged at a very early stage. The final destination of the story idea is somewhat what we have seen in mainstream cinema. But to reach there, writer Sameer Abdul takes a trajectory that feels interesting and much more real. The scenarios Sameer creates to show the negative repercussions of certain allegations happening against an ordinary man have a grounded feel. There is one scene that shows how these accusations against Rajeevan threaten the lives of his daughters, and what he does there to solve that problem is more practical. And instead of relief, he comes under more suspicion for protecting his peace and daughters.
When it comes to the second half, where the hero is more in a determined space, the writing is going after some ambitious moments. In today’s times, when mobile cameras and sensationalized news media are looking for engaging content, it won’t be easy to live a life where people think that you have done something wrong. So this enmity Rajeevan unintentionally earned from the public is what helps the movie to go to that scaled-up space which I mentioned in the beginning. While most of the set pieces in that phase feel grounded, there are these over-the-top moments, like the bus fight sequence where Rajeevan hangs on to a moving bus even after getting thrown out of it. There is a layer of political satire that is basically designed to mock the short attention span of our society. While as a standalone block, the things mentioned in that subplot were smart, I thought the contrast between the high-octane action up to that point and this particular satire was affecting the movie’s rhythm.
My personal favorite performance of Prithviraj Sukumaran is from Koode, and that movie shows us a Prithviraj who is very different from the kind of mimicry people do of him. In I, Nobody, Nisam Basheer has managed to bring out a similar version of Prithviraj, except for the action blocks. Be it the apathetic conversations he has with adults or the silent communications with his daughters, you get to see a different Prithviraj here. The body language in the action sequence is something we have seen before. Parvathy Thiruvothu as Rajeevan’s wife has her own arc in the movie, and towards the end, the story gives space to her decisions as well. Parvathy performs the sadness and anger of that character very realistically on screen. The casting of the child actors was pretty good. The little one, Aira, has more screen time and offers some fun in her combination scenes with Prithviraj. Nakshathra has minimal scenes, but the performance had the maturity of an elder daughter.
Hakkim Shahjahan plays a crucial character in the movie and was fine in that role. Ashokan’s Jacob was an interesting character whose purpose we understand at the very end. Beena Chandran, who won the best actress award in the Kerala Film Awards 2024, gets to do a small role in this movie, and Sameer Abdul gives her a dialogue that adds an emotional depth to this pacy film. Shankar Ramakrishnan plays the part of the investigating police officer. Khalid Rahman is once again in the driver’s seat along with Sudhy Koppa and Sanju Shivram. Vijayaraghavan was effective as the CM character, even though he had minimal space. The cast of the movie is elaborate, with many established names like Madhupal, Nishanth Sagar, Jijoy Rajagopal, Nandhu, etc.
The visual filmmaking is more evident in this movie, and Nisam Basheer is using these complicated oners at many instances to keep us engrossed in the film. To get such long takes, he definitely needs the help of visual effects, and for this movie, the smoothness and quality of the visual effects weren’t that great. One thing I have to appreciate the movie for is its action blocks. I think it has one of the finest action choreographies, and it felt real. The action sequence inside the lift was so good, and the edit of that sequence really captured every beat of the design perfectly. While the action looks believable on screen, it is something that contradicts the idea of showing the hero as a nobody. The cinematography was really great in capturing the pulsating action bits. The Sajje Khabbe anthem was fun. In the second half, there is a portion where the knocking on the door gradually transitions into a background score. I loved the coordination between the sound design and background score in that bit.
I, Nobody is an ambitious attempt that tries to cover too many events and genres. While some of it lands, some struggles to be in sync with the tone set by the movie. The action bits land while satire falters, and the subtle family drama lands while the extended bit of goodness among other people feels forced and unnecessary. In totality, I, Nobody is a technically solid film that gets an uneven treatment towards the final quarter of its elaborate runtime.
