I, Nobody

Vampire Owl: A vampire has always preferred to remain as anonymous nobody.

Vampire Bat: There are no anonymous people among centuries-old immortals.

Vampire Owl: There is a certain anonymous infinity about us.

Vampire Bat: Infinity is not always equal to immortality.

Vampire Owl: Life which continues in an infinite manner is always immortality.

Vampire Bat: There cannot be a nobody here as there are centuries to discover any identity.

Vampire Owl: Nobody can identify a camouflaged vampire in his spirit form.

Vampire Bat: Uncle Dracula can see through everyone and everything.

Vampire Owl: So did Dr. Frankenstein, once upon a time.

Vampire Bat: Mr. Frankenstein has seen no real truth in his entire life. We are forced to sing that “Frank doesn’t know” every time.

[Gets a chocolate donut and three cups of Yorkshire tea].

What is the movie about? :: Rajeevan (Prithviraj Sukumaran) is a middle-class man with a regular daily job in the Secretariat married to Meera (Parvathy Thiruvothu) and they have two young children – this seems like a very happy family for the people looking from outside. But Meera regularly cheats in their marriage with an unknown man (Rony David) identified only as the Branch Manager of ISFC Bank at its Vanchiyoor Branch. Rajeevan who is fed up with Meera’s attitude with him and his children, as well as her recently discovered secret sexual affair and decides to go the bank and talk to him with a gun during the busy hours. But there, while waiting for a meeting with the man, Rajeevan ends up facing three masked bank robbers who enter the bank with weapons, Peter (Sanju Sivram), Alex (Sudhi Koppa) and Koshy (Khalid Rahman) who also finds the gun with him as it falls down in shock. They feel that he is part of a rival gang or someone sent by someone who got a clue about their plans.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: They decide to take him hostage with a plastic cover over his head as he seems like someone who can harm their cause, and they go on a ride in the van. But on the way, due to Rajeevan creating a ruckus, the car crashes while trying to run him down. CPO Anas Rahman (Hakim Shahjahan) who is also involved in the crime fails to find the stolen money, and everyone else in the police department who looks for the same are also not able to find the same. SP Ajith IPS (Shankar Ramakrishnan) who doubts Rajeevan fails to believe him, while CI Jomon (Madhupal) who has to listen to his superiors, decide not to help him as he is followed by the police and attacked by random goons and people who wish to steal from him after media calls him a suspect. Seeing the crisis that Rajeevan is going through and with her lover also disowning her due to police being involved, she decides to move away to a distant town after getting a divorce from him. Now the question remains if he can go on like this forever.

The defence of I, Nobody :: The movie talks about an almost middle or little above person, and the status of a common man in the food chain is questioned in a brutal manner, even for a man with a government job which had placed him in a safe-future zone. The final moments get the movie into action thriller mode really well, and we also remember that the beginning was so good. The emotional side is pretty much working around here for most of the times. A real-picture of dysfunctional small families of cities is also reflected here, as communication breaks down with not hope, with ego taking over. The final moments with the large amount of cash also proves that money is everything, and it is something that builds broken relations – the reality of humanity is exposed during so many occasions. Then there is the clear reflection of new generation online social media and media as a whole which streams and makes things worse. The movie is a reflection of a hopeless, absurd world of meaningless nihilism which still ends with a happily ever after.

The claws of flaw :: The supporting characters are not dealt with that well. This is too long a work, and it can be seen that the movie suffers from a certain drag, stretching scenes longer than needed, even having some slow motion and repetition in between. One can safely say that this never looked like a movie intended to go above two hours, but we see a very long journey around here. The individual character drama takes over so early that the main elements which we were expecting are always in the backseat. The heist elements die too early, and being an action thriller with this content is rather strange. It also seems to have a climax that lacks the punch for which we waited with so much expectations. The ending seems to be achieved as a deus ex machina or an easy resolution because there were not many ways left to end with such a build-up. There were so many moments in between which did not seem like suiting its world. The side characters also seem to go on a struggle in between, and some of them seem to be pushed right in there. The movie could have been so much more with the common man idea.

The performers of the soul :: Prithviraj Sukumaran comes up with a strong, but still a restrained portrayal of an ordinary as well as vulnerable everyman caught in extraordinary circumstances – due to his permanent government job nature, one might feel otherwise, but the same feeling is evoked as personal situations involving family also comes into picture, and there is always a food chain however safe one feels to be. Parvathy Thiruvothu has a role with subtle, layered emotional depth which is handled quite well. It is always good to see her in some work that requires a little bit of extra skill. The next one who catches our attention is Ashokan who has done a commendable job even though he gets more to do only later. Hakim Shahjahan’s policeman will also stay with us, while Shankar Ramakrishnan, Irshad Ali and Madhupal do well with lesser police roles. Nishanth Sagar also creates and impression, while Vijayaraghavan brings his fine veteran experience to light in the final few moments.

How it finishes :: The movie just serves the purpose, and that much is sure when we have a close look at it. There is the attempt to blend the genres, which seems to leave parts of the movie with a certain confusion about the possible directions. The inability to maintain its initial strength holds it back from reaching its full potential. A long runtime and the repetition followed by the inability to wrap up things well has it in peril by the end, but still manages to be fair enough. The needed dramatic weight never really comes in here either. It remains an interesting effort with makes the initial impact and brings the divergence, but struggles with the inconsistencies. The case of ordinary citizens struggling due to circumstances having no help from systemic corruption and feeling to activate the unexpected survival instincts was that engaging hook which sets it apart from the usual journeys, but what happens after that might be worth some questioning. Yet, this was enjoyable and thought-provoking for most of its run, especially in the first half. Jio Hotstar had this one releasing for Onam which serves the audience with more options.

Release date: 9 July 2026
Running time: 168 minutes
Directed by: Nissam Basheer
Starring: Prithviraj Sukumaran, Parvathy Thiruvothu, Hakkim Shahjahan, Ashokan, Vijayaraghavan, Shankar Ramakrishnan, Madhupal, Nakshatra, Ayra Izra, Nishanth Sagar, Nandu, Ishad Ali, Manoj K U, Jijoy Rajagopal, Sudhi Koppa, Sanju Sivram, Khalid Rahman, Rony David, Beena R Chandran, Sana Althaf, Krishnan Balakrishnan, Dinesh Alappuzha, Noushad Ali, Sudhi Kozhikode, Albin Alex, Jithin Madanan, Lenna Paul, Mahendran