Merry Christmas Review: Katrina Kaif, Vijay Sethupathi's Chemistry Shines In Delectable Thriller

2023 saw a parigm shift in Bollywood. While Hindi film industry's business was revived post-pandemic with several blockbusters hit that brought audiences back to atres, it also established a certain safe zone for filmmakers to follow. Action dramas became go-to success formula and very few films outside genre succeeded. In such a landscape, Sriram Raghavan’s Merry Christmas feels like a breath of fresh air.

Hot Take

After Andhhun (2018), which emerged as a sleeper hit at box office, it’s only fair for audience to expect anor edge-of--seat, dark, comedy-thriller from Raghavan. good thing about Merry Christmas, director's latest, is that it both caters to and subverts expectations. resultant is a delectable, moody narrative that has many surprises to offer, even humour.

Does Merry Christmas live up to hype?

While climax of Merry Christmas may leave audience divided, film more or less delivers on all fronts.

Raghavan's penchant for blending humour and thrill shines through

All of Raghavan's movies have an undercurrent of humour. In Merry Christmas, filmmaker consistently delivers unexpected moments of laughter, however, he never plays down tension. In a certain sequence in second half, we follow a character who is confused yet trying to make sense of a macabre chain of events. se portions are amusing and allow us to emotionally invest in characters and storyline. film is packed with many such moments where Raghavan's penchant for blending humour and thrill shines through.

Skilfully fragmented narrative

filmmaker’s mastery shows in how he spends entire first half solely building premise and setting mood while barely telling us anything significant about protagonists. re are plenty of clues though - Albert (Vijay Sethupathi) nervously glancing away when he sees someone, that one dialogue Maria (Katrina Kaif) whispers in her daughter's ear while putting her to bed. re is enough in first half to keep us intrigued while we still try to figure out where plot and characters are heed.

It’s second half that is make or break for film.

Once mystery is revealed, film temporarily shifts to a doesn't live upto expectations of a pacy thriller. However, this section also remains integral to what Raghavan tries to daringly accomplish in climax. final act of film is a masterstroke, way it suddenly opens a can of worms and all unexplained, small figments of intrigue come toger to create a suspenseful segment. At same time, it leaves audience divided because of how suddenly it arrives and leaves before one could register what unfolded.

An aestic delight

With Merry Christmas, it becomes all more evident that Raghavan is one of few filmmakers who is exploring cinema from a purely aestic perspective. While one of protagonists does have a tragic backstory that offers a subtle commentary on power dynamics in couples, Merry Christmas works purely as an enticing whodunit where every scene has something to offer. Raghavan also incorporates homages to yesteryear greats like Vijay Anand and Basu Chatterjee to elevate mood of narrative. Not to mention filmmaker’s exemplary use of Western classical music to build tension. From its opening frame to closing shot, Merry Christmas revels in its identity as a pursuer of aestic pleasure and succeeds.

Vijay Sethupathi and Katrina Kaif live up to mark

One of most striking, albeit expected aspects of Merry Christmas is crackling chemistry Vijay Sethupathi and Katrina Kaif share onscreen. Vijay Sethupathi delivers a great performance that is in complete sync with film's tonality. He delivers depan lines with utmost ease, yet never makes his character seem frivolous. If film holds well in second half despite its slight lack of tonal grip it’s because of warmth that Katrina and Vijay bring in ir conversational scenes, especially where y talk about ir past.

Merry Christmas deserves brownie points for its casting. Veterans Vinay Pathak and Pratima Kazmi are perfectly cast as two simple-looking, sly-thinking cops who can deliver laughs with just a gaze. Ashwini Kalsekar too makes a brief but memorable appearance.

Watch it or skip it?

Merry Christmas merits a watch in a atre purely for risk-taking and thrill and intrigue it offers. Besides its tense and moody storytelling, Raghavan has a tremendous amount of aestic beauty to offer which makes it worthwhile.

Bottomline

At a time when most mainstream movie content is beginning to look increasingly formulaic and calculated, it’s a great pleasure to watch a film like Merry Christmas that dances to its tunes.

Rating - 3.5/5 Stars