Merry Christmas movie review: Katrina Kaif, Vijay Sethupati starrer, Sriram Raghavan’s chaotic take on the perfect crime

Merry Christmas

Vijay Sethupati, Katrina Kaif, Sanjay Kapoor

About Merry Christmas

National award winner Sriram Raghavan’s next film Andadun (2018) It’s been a long time coming. Moreover, the filmmaker has roped in an unusual pairing of Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupati for this crime thriller. This holiday gift is Merry Christmas Arriving a little late, this crime thriller, while certainly very clever, suffers from the film’s pacing and length.

Merry Christmas: Narrative

The entire Hindi film takes place over one night in December when Mumbai was once known as Bombay. Sethupati Albert returns to the city after a long stay and has a chance meeting with a woman named Maria (Katrina Kaif) and her young daughter Annie. The two strangers connect during dark hours and ultimately unburden themselves. However, considering this is Raghavan’s film, there are some twists and turns in store for both the characters as Christmas dawn comes with some surprises like a visit from the police.

Merry Christmas: Screenplay and direction

Raghavan, along with writers Arijit Biswas, Pooja Radha Sruthi and Anukriti Pandey, adapted Frederic Dahl’s French novella. The tense story is engaging in a novel format, but it doesn’t quite translate to the screen without being too literal. The writer and director, whose love of old Bollywood and Hollywood films is well known, has created this nostalgic period drama. There’s a visit to an old movie theater, a dedication to director Shakti Samanta, and a few other hints at films and literary works, but sharing the title would be a minor spoiler. Samanta herself was known for classic thrillers such as; howrah bridge, china gate and ajnabee.

first half and second half Merry Christmas The movie doesn’t become a full-fledged suspense drama until after the interval, so it feels like it could be two different genre movies. The first half moves very slowly and the audience is sitting and waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it’s too late.

Merry Christmas: Performance

Vijay Sethupati’s Albert is clumsy but charming. Merry Christmas. This actor has some of the best lines, and the way he delivers some of his lines based on facts is fun. The combination of Kaif and Sethupati has raised eyebrows. In movies, actresses are often overshadowed by the actors’ natural performances. It doesn’t help that the script keeps her character Maria more insular and Sethupati’s Albert more endearing.

The rest of the supporting cast, including Tinu Anand, Radhika Apte and Vinay Pathak, do a great job in their short scenes. Sanjay Kapoor and Ashwini Kalsekar also steal their scenes.

Merry Christmas: Criticism

most of the performances Merry Christmas Although charming, the film is too long at 2 hours and 24 minutes. It’s established that audiences can sit and watch long movies, but there has to be enough interest to keep them interested. The pace of the feature is not rushed as certain markers need to be established within the first half.

While fans of murder mysteries may enjoy the slow build-up, most Bollywood viewers aren’t as patient. Merry Christmas The final 20 minutes pick up speed, with nervous conflicts and tensions to be resolved. Sriram Raghavan’s film got the perfect crime right, but does such a thing exist?