Maria (Katrina Kaif) begs Albert (Vijay Sethupathi) to “pick one.” He selects a finger, and she informs him that he made the right decision. The film’s finale is an exact replica of this moment. We are presently in the realm of filmmaker Sriram Raghvan. Nothing is what it appears, and everything has at least two meanings.
Part of the joy of a well-written thriller is being let free among a bunch of people who say one thing, do another, and mean completely other things. This movie’s cast of characters almost all fit this description well.
On Christmas Eve, Vijay Sethupathi’s character Albert comes to the Maximum City. Due to the fact that Maria (Katrina Kaif) brought her kid along, her date abandoned her. It just so happens that Ronnie (Sanjay Kapoor) is at the wrong place at the wrong time. Not even Maria’s daughter Annie can speak. Nobody is blameless. This is the well-known Raghavan color scheme: plenty of different hues of grey rather than black or white.
Sriram is the maestro of thrillers in Hindi cinema, hence his films are full with nefarious characters like killers, con artists, and gamblers. There are also a lot of allusions to past Hindi movies in his works. Sriram goes one step farther with the tribute in Merry Christmas. The film, which is set in the Maximum City, pays homage to Shakti Samanta, one of his all-time favorite filmmakers, and transports us back to a period when Mumbai was known as Bombay. The narrative takes place on Christmas Eve night in Colaba, a neighborhood in South Mumbai.
Raghavan takes his sweet time telling the story of a woman in a miserable marriage and a guy with a mysterious past in the first half and decides to let its inner devil go in the second half, all while making sure that his characters have plenty of time to breathe, converse, and even take a stroll around town.
Frédéric Dard’s Le Monte charge suggests that this organized and slow-burning criminal thriller, set against an interesting interplay of sights and sounds, is anything from random. The movie is a must-see for fans of thrillers who like the genre with a dash of sardonic humor. It is a testament to the director’s extraordinary narrative abilities as well as his enduring love of Hindi cinema music from the 1970s. Full credit to Daniel B. George for a background soundtrack that is unforgettable because, like with his other works, it not only greatly enhances the story’s impact but also moves it along.
Raghavan, the man behind Johnny Gaddar, Ek Hasina Thi, Badlapur, and AndhaDhun, discovers the ideal environment for success. In a world where morality is very pliable, people who have no difficulty utilizing lying to accomplish their ambitions are capable of all sorts of deviousness. Co-writing the script with Raghavan, Arijit Biswas, and Anukriti Pandey, Pooja Ladha Surti adopts a stunning editing rhythm and demonstrates the tact of a filmmaker who keeps his tongue while letting the story’s most hazardous and badly wounded people take center stage.
Never has Katrina Kaif performed better; she always delivers a flawless performance. The actress plays a lady who is as charming as she is lethal. She is amazing. She breaks from her friendly routine to navigate Raghavan’s painstakingly intricate network during Merry Christmas.
We are treated to a fantastic, disgusting performance by Vijay Sethupathi. His easy charisma and endearing one-liners with a straight face make an appearance in every shot. Despite the fact that their combination has up until now been deemed “odd,” after seeing the movie, everyone will see how well they work together. Watch them play a sequence at the finale when there is no words and just emotion.
Vinay Pathak, Ashwini Kalsekar, Pratima Kazmi, Tinnu Anand, and Sanjay Kapoor are all excellent in their brief but powerful cameos.
Merry Christmas is suitably pulpy rather than pacy or raunchy. It’s a great way to start 2024 and a nice change of pace from the dull action movies and espionage thrillers we witnessed the previous year.