Tips Films Ltd. and Matchbox Pictures Pvt. Ltd.’s Merry Christmas (UA) is a suspense drama. On Christmas Eve, Maria (Katrina Kaif) is in a restaurant with her little daughter, Annie. A chance encounter with Albert (Vijay Sethupathi) there results into the two becoming friends. Maria tells Albert that she is in a bad marriage and that her husband, Jerome (Luke Kenny), is celebrating Christmas Eve with his girlfriend. Maria and Albert go out for a while after Annie goes off to sleep. On their return, they are shocked to see that Maria’s husband has been shot dead. Is it suicide? Or has someone murdered him? If it’s a murder, who is the murderer and what is the motive?
The film is based on Frédéric Dard’s novel, Le Monte-Charge. Sriram Raghavan, Arijit Biswas, Pooja Ladha Surti and Anukriti Pandey’s story and screenplay are interesting and engaging. Although the first half moves at a relatively slow pace till the murder/suicide comes to light, it does entertain as well as engage because of the inherent humour and due to the feeling that something sinister is lurking around. The drama after Jerome’s dead body is found is even more interesting because the intrigue value increases. Having said that, it must be added that the entire drama would appeal more to the class and city audience as the pace may be a problem area for the hardcore masses. The ending is a bit confusing as it is not spelt out clearly. Dialogues, written by the team of four, are very interesting and weighty.
Vijay Sethupathi is phenomenal in the role of Albert. His acting is so outstanding that watching him becomes a delightful experience. His nuances are to die for. In fact, the audience miss him whenever he is not on the screen. Katrina Kaif does a superb job. She looks beautiful and makes her character believable with her sincere work. Sanjay Kapoor makes a lovely mark in the role of Ronnie. His spontaneous acting wins him brownie points. Vinay Pathak makes a fine mark as the investigating police officer. Pratima Kannan is supremely natural as the investigating police officer. Tinnu Anand lends able support. Ashwini Kalsekar steals the show in a brief role as Ronnie’s wife. It would not be wrong to say that she evokes laughter whenever she utters a dialogue. Radhika Apte makes her presence amply felt in a brief special appearance. Pari Maheshwari Sharma is good as Annie. Gayathrie makes a special appearance in a song. Luke Kenny (in a special appearance) is alright as the dead body. Sahil Vaid is good in a brief special appearance. Others are adequate.
Sriram Raghavan’s direction is excellent. He has made an exciting suspense film with good entertainment value. Pritam’s music is nice but there is no song which stands out as a super-hit number. Varun Grover’s lyrics are meaningful. Choreography (Brinda for Raat akeli thi, Vijay Ganguly for the other songs) is quite alright. Daniel B. George’s background music is outstanding and greatly enhances the impact and the thrill element. Madhu Neelakandan’s cinematography is first-rate. Action and stunt scenes (choreographed by Hira Yadav and Sunil Rodrigues) are good. Mayur Sharma’s production designing and Sabyasachi Misra’s art direction are of a fine standard. Pooja Ladha Surti’s editing is super-sharp.
On the whole, Merry Christmas is an entertaining suspense drama and will be liked by the classes and city audience. Its slow start will tell on its business, though.
Released on 12-1-’24 at Inox (daily 8 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay thru PEN Marudhar Cine Entertainment. Publicity: good. Opening: weak. …….Also released all over. Opening was not up to the mark at most of the places.