'I, Nobody' Review, Prithviraj Anchors A Sharp Heist Drama Let Down By A Messy Second Half Overreach

'I, Nobody' premiered on JioHotstar on August 25, 2026. The heist drama features Prithviraj Sukumaran playing the lead role alongside many others.

By Anupal Neog Last Updated: Aug 25, 2026 | 16:26:09 IST

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Anyone who missed I, Nobody in theatres can now watch it at home, as it has finally arrived on JioHotstar on August 25, 2026. Prithviraj Sukumaran reunites with director Nissam Basheer for a slow-burn heist drama that flips the genre's focus from execution to aftermath.

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What happens when an ordinary secretariat employee, 'Rajeevan,' is branded a criminal after a bank robbery goes wrong? Anchored by Parvathy Thiruvothu as 'Meera' and powered by tense set-pieces including a standout lift brawl, the film examines dignity, media trial and survival, even as its ambitious second half struggles to sustain early promise.

The weight of being branded a nobody

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A quiet government clerk walks into a bank with a hidden pistol, intent on confronting a manager linked to his wife, only to be swept into an armed robbery that reshapes his entire existence. That is how Nissam Basheer's second feature frames 'Rajeevan,' a bespectacled secretariat employee and father to 'Jiya' and 'Amala,' whose domestic life with 'Meera' has already fractured into cold silence. 

The heist itself is swift and chaotic: three masked men loot crores, drag 'Rajeevan' as a human shield, flee, crash, and vanish, leaving behind no trace of the stolen cash. From victim to suspect, the shift is instantaneous, fuelled by police doubt and a ravenous digital media ecosystem that declares him the mastermind.

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The most telling exchange arrives when an officer lectures 'Rajeevan' on a perverse food chain, where the grasshopper must learn to devour the frog that hunts it. That metaphor becomes the film's spine, questioning how long a powerless individual can survive on obedience.

Sameer Abdul's screenplay opts against a procedural reconstruction of the robbery, choosing instead to stay inside the disintegration of an ordinary household. The first hour is meticulously staged, with long, fluid takes following 'Rajeevan' into the bank and out as a hostage, reflections caught in side mirrors, traffic rendered in nervous flickers. Dinesh Purushothaman's lens brings urgency without flash, while Nixon George's sound design sharpens confined confrontations.

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The lift brawl stands out for its claustrophobic choreography, bodies colliding against mirrored walls, and a later bus skirmish carries similar muscular precision. Crucially, the harassment feels plausible: neighbours demanding cuts, schoolmates targeting the children, officers returning unannounced, forcing 'Rajeevan' into small, believable acts of protection rather than grand heroics. Details like scribbles on home walls and 'Meera' in her work uniform at a hotel desk add texture to a lived-in world that never slips into cheap melodrama.

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A sharp first half undone by a weak second half

What begins as a taut, character-driven slow burn begins to wobble after the interval, when the narrative's appetite grows larger than its central figure can sustain. The non-linear structure that energised the opening stretch starts repeating revelations, spelling out twists and then visualising them again until momentum slackens. 

Running at close to three hours, the film needed some trimming. The core contradiction also becomes harder to ignore. 'Rajeevan' is presented as an unremarkable clerk, yet dispatches groups of opponents with startling efficiency, explained only by a throwaway reference to past affiliation with a political student cadre. That gap between ordinariness and near-invincibility dilutes the realism so carefully established earlier.

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New threads involving 'Anas,' a suspended officer with a stutter, and 'Jacob,' a resident of the apartment complex, alongside a bungled kidnapping and competing factions hunting the missing loot, crowd the canvas. An extended chase doubling as social satire feels overdesigned, with uneven visual effects, and the final stretch's turn toward overt political commentary, including a cameo by a chief minister figure, lands as abrupt and incongruous.

Jakes Bejoy's score retains polish, but the insertion of Hindi tracks disrupts the Thiruvananthapuram milieu, while the editing maintains kinetic drive at the cost of pacing, but performance remains the anchor.

Prithviraj Sukumaran opts for restraint over flamboyance, conveying panic and calculation through minimal shifts, even if the stoic register occasionally flattens. Parvathy Thiruvothu brings complete conviction to 'Meera,' balancing fatigue, fury and maternal protectiveness, refusing to reduce the role to mere support. The children playing 'Amala' and 'Jiya' impress, as do Ashokan as 'Jacob' and Beena Chandran in key supporting turns.

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Despite the craft, style and a compelling premise about dignity under accusation, the latter portions struggle to resolve character with plot, leaving a thriller that promises greatness but ends up effective only in parts.

Have you watched I, Nobody on JioHotstar? Let us know.

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