Merry Christmas REVIEW: Katrina Kaif delivers her career best performance with a delicious Vijay Sethupathi in Sriram Raghavan’s thriller-verse

Film:
Merry Christmas Review

Director: Sriram Raghavan

Star cast: Katrina Kaif, Vijay Sethupathi, Sanjay Kapoor, Radhika Apte, Vinay Pathak

Platform: Theatres

Runtime: 2 Hours 24 mins

Merry Christmas Movie Review

Merry Christmas starring Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi is an engaging suspense thriller, but in it heart lies a love story. Filmmaker Sriram Raghavan’s storytelling is so compelling that you want to wait till last to know ‘what happens next.’ I watched Merry Christmas last night and I feel it is a movie that will be enjoyed by a niche audience, someone who is fond of thrillers and suspense. Nevertheless, keep reading the review of Merry Christmas to understand it better.

Story

On Christmas Eve, Albert (Vijay Sethupathi) returns home after several years of being away. Grieving for and adjusting to the loss of his mother, he steps out seeking happiness in the city’s Christmas Eve festivities. He goes to a restaurant and happens to meet a beautiful and mysterious girl named Maria (Katrina Kaif), and her little daughter who is mute. The night fans into long walks and conversations, wine, dance and sparking unexpected but undeniable, magnetism between Albert and Maria. For Maria, Albert is everything she could have asked for… and for Albert, Maria is nothing short of a Christmas miracle. But things soon take a dark turn and an evening of romance turns into a nightmare.

Highlights of the movie

Storyline: When the story is about one night, it becomes a challenging thing for the director to make it engaging. It is just a matter of one night and a lot needs to be shown in that part. Well, that’s where Merry Christmas comes that leaves you hooked till the end. It is an unusual story that will make you keep guessing. 

Sriram Raghavan’s direction: His vision is  crisp and to the point that it gets conveyed very effortlessly. Since he has a knack for delivering mystery thrillers, Sriram knows how to build the suspense and when to unfold the layers. You can feel it in the air and the surroundings that something’s big in the corner and Sriram does it very well. 

Katrina and Vijay’s pairing: Ever since Sriram announced Katrina and Vijay Sethupathi together, I was a bit pumped up to see them together. They seem to be poles apart and this unconventional pairing raised my anticipation. While many thought they had zero chemistry, I would say otherwise. I won’t it was sizzling but this is the kind of sweet chemistry that gives a nice aftertaste. They were refreshing and beautiful together. Though there was less physical touch, Katrina and Vijay’s chemistry and intimacy looked surreal. 

Music: Pritam hits the bullseye with his composition. It sets the right mood at the right moment. For this album, he even adds some jazzy music whose highs and lows perfectly sync with the scene. Moreover, songs like Nazar Teri Toofan and Raat Akeli Thi are just sheer magic to your ears. Perfectly balances the movie. The strength of the film lies in its crescendo-filled BGM. Banger! 

Drawbacks of the movie

Pace: The first half of the movie is quite slow-paced, it feels like every scene is going at a snail’s speed. Yes, Sriram was taking his time to build their characters but it was a little tiresome. However, it picks up the pace in the second half, keeping you on the edge of the seat.

Screenplay: Everything was well-written and well-planned when it came to screenplay. However, certain things seemed abrupt to me. There’s a scene where Maria happens to read Albert’s diary; and while she kept laughing, I as an audience was completely clueless. I was hoping I would get some context but nada. Moreover, her daughter’s backstory was not clear neither was Rosie’s.

Star performances

Katrina Kaif is truly impressive in Merry Christmas. I would say this is one of the best performances of Katrina. The role of Maria is so mysterious that you start making different notions about her. There’s more to her than meets the eye. Katrina plays her perfectly and excels in it. She makes her own space and nicely delves into the character. The way camera moves into her face, with close up shots, capturing her emotions, raw and unfiltered, are a work of beauty and brains!

Vijay Sethupathi, hands down, is one of the finest actors. The beauty of Vijay is that he plays with so much conviction that you automatically fall for him. Be it the cool cop in Farzi, the bad boy in Jawan or the cute man in Merry Christmas, he knows how to switch his character effortlessly. He even looks quite natural with his one-liners. By the way, Vijay’s South Indian accent is just too cute for words. 

Sanjay Kapoor, Radhika Apte and Vinay Pathak have nicely supported the main cast with their presence. Their special appearance in the movie added a lot of value and their performance only made it better.

Conclusion

Concluding the Merry Christmas review, Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi are truly the stars of the movie. Their performance and their chemistry are crackling and tantalising. Whereas Sriram Raghavan once again brings an engaging drama after Andhadhun. If nothing else, his way of narrating the story will leave you intrigued. At first, things will not go smoothly but the way the mystery unfolds is what you should need to look forward to.

PS: The retro touch, the sepia tone, the Bombay of early 90s’, the old world charm and dedication to late director Shakti Samant makes Merry Christmas indeed a merry affair.

Watch Merry Christmas trailer after the review

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