Merry Christmas is directed by Sriram Raghavan who is known for making great thrillers. Sriram Raghavan has made very good films like Ek Hasina Thi , Johnny Gaddaar, Badlapur and Andhadhun. The only time when Sriram Raghavan disappointed, was in Agent Vinod. Agent Vinod was more of an action film than a thriller and this was the reason why the film turned out to be crap. Sriram Raghavan disappoints for the second time with Merry Christmas, as the film is not so joyful. The saddest part is Sriram Raghavan failing in a genre like thriller, where he has always excelled.
Recently Rajkumar Hirani, who is regarded as the Best Indian Director of current times, failed with Dunki. Rajkumar Hirani made an average film which was nowhere close to his previous works. There have been many promising directors who have failed and not able to deliver upto the expectations. Some of the promising directors like Rajkumar Hirani, Nitesh Tiwari, Amar Kaushik, Raaj Shaandilyaa, Raj Mehta, Aanand L Rai and many more failed to impress the viewers. Sriram Raghavan has joined the list of promising directors who have failed to deliver upto the mark.
On Christmas Eve, Albert Arogyasami (Vijay Sethupathi) returns home after several years of being away. Grieving for and adjusting to the loss of his mother, he steps out seeking cheer in the city’s Christmas Eve festivities. He meets the beautiful and mysterious Maria (Katrina Kaif), and her little daughter Annie who is mute. The night fans into long walks and conversations, 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. Revealing anything more would be a crime.
Merry Christmas is the least exciting thriller made by Sriram Raghavan. The film has the minimum number of thrills which we expect from a Sriram Raghavan film. The twists and turns are presented in a very cold manner.
Vijay Sethupathi is an acting legend and there is no doubt in it. This was a tailor made role for Vijay and he has easily adapted the character. Vijay is very natural throughout the film and keeps the audience hooked to their seats till the end. Vijay’s accent might be a little problem, but his stunning performance makes us forget it. He keeps the dead narrative alive with his convincing performance. Katrina Kaif has got many less chances to showcase her acting skills and with Merry Christmas she has done a wonderful job. Katrina’s silence and expressions speak a lot about her performance. Katrina looks absolutely beautiful in each and every frame and it will be difficult for one to take his/her eyes off whenever she is on-screen. Katrina has never looked so good in an intense role like this. Katrina’s accent is not good, but she plays a Christian character which will save her from criticism. The supporting cast consists of talented actors like Sanjay Kapoor, Radhika Apte, Tinnu Anand, Vinay Pathak, Ashwini Kalsekar, Pratima Kazmi and Luke Kelly, but all of them have badly written characters. Despite having a strong supporting cast, the actors fail to impress and the writers are to blame for it.
The writing of Merry Christmas seems like half baked. A thriller must have proper twists and turns at regular intervals, but Merry Christmas has nothing which can create thrill. There are no tension arising situations which can create a different atmosphere and keep the audience glued to their seats. It seemed like the makers were in a hurry and tried to wrap up things without thinking of any proper conclusion. The writing seems to be repetitive at parts and is a mess.
The music of Merry Christmas is decent. The songs are situational and have lyrics which take the story forward. The placement of songs is wonderful and makes the narrative merrier.
The direction of Sriram Raghavan lacks smartness. He is the one who knows how to keep the audience engaged, but here makes them feel bored at many parts. The direction goes off the track and makes the audience lose their interest in the story.
The film is 144 minutes long and has some dull scenes in it. A thriller should not exceed 120 minutes, which provides a fast paced experience to the viewers. Merry Christmas should have been easily trimmed by 10 to 15 minutes to make things more cheerful.
Merry Christmas was a film which had no potential in the story. Though the climax was fulfilling, it did not create any kind of thrill. Merry Christmas wanted to be a thriller but ended up becoming a simple film with no suspense at all.
The presentation lacks nail biting moments and till the time suspense is revealed, people start losing their interest due to dull presentation. There are hardly any scenes which have gripping moments and create tension on-screen.
The best part about Merry Christmas is its locations, set design and color grading. The majority of film is shot during the night. The framework is excellent. The color grading of red, green and different colors make Merry Christmas more colorful and gives a pleasure to the eyes. The technical brilliance is visible on the screen. The locations chosen by Sriram Raghavan are fabulous. If the locations were not good enough, Merry Christmas would have turned out to be very poor. Sriram Raghavan’s sense of cinema should be appreciated as he tries to do many experiments on-screen. The camera work is excellent which is a lesson for every aspiring filmmaker. The minute details of filmmaking are clearly visible on-screen.
The climax scene in the police station will require a repeat viewing for a certain section of the audience. The climax is fulfilling but does not have even 1% of thrill. Raghavan opted for a dialogue-less ending where characters showcase their extraordinary acting skills without speaking a word. A thrilling climax would have made Merry Christmas more merrier. Merry Christmas is different from other other thriller films of Sriram Raghavan. He tried to do a little bit of experiment and succeeded partially.
Overall Merry Christmas is not that typical Sriram Raghavan cinema which we have seen earlier and is much darker than his previous works. The film is strictly average and should be watched only for performances of Vijay Sethupathi and Katrina Kaif and technical brilliance of Sriram Raghavan. This is the first Bollywood film of 2024 which has turned out to be an average one and has not provided a great start to the year.
Rating – 2.5/5*
