Merry Christmas : A Crime Drama
So yesterday I watched Merry Christmas (2024) and decided to review it.
I've bifurcated the review into 4 points viz.
- The Director
- The Cast
- Storyline
- The Background Score and Songs
The same is available on my YouTube Channel APWC
Do check it out by clicking on the link. (Review)
1) The Director
Sriram Raghavan - Y'all might remember him because of
Andhadhun, Badlapur, Johnny Gaddaar.
His filmography is just exquisite. As a director or writer,
he is pretty experimental in nature while dabbling into the crime mystery
thriller genre
His films mostly are a 1 time watch; max 2 but the fun and
thrill you get whilst watching it for the first time is incomparable and
unparalleled to many Indian films. especially the ones releasing these days.
Let me take this moment to give a brief intro to his
filmography.
In his first film Ek Hasina Thi, we see an
obedient, good looking, disciplined, well-mannered woman turning into a
ruthless avenger in the 2nd half of the film. The ending of this film made me
feel bad for Saif's character but he deserved it. One of the Finest
performances by Urmila Matondkar.
The ideology that if a woman puts her mind to it, she can do
anything is the central theme of this film.
Johnny Gaddaar was Neil Nitin Mukesh's debut
film and what a crazy film. You know exactly what is going to happen; you can
literally predict what will happen next but still the movie has so much
substance. I liked it!
Johnny Gaddaar was remade in Malayalam, Telugu and Tamil. It
was also based on a book but let’s not talk about that.
Agent Vinod had everything you wish from a
descent spy thriller but somewhere it becomes a prey to its age-old Indian-Pak
narrative. If it would've worked, then maybe Bollywood could've gotten its own
James Bond. A missed opportunity I must say.
Nevertheless, the songs of this film were instrumental in
defining a new class of music in Bollywood.
Badlapur was such a risky project but the end
result was marvelous. Taking Varun Dhawan in such a serious role could've
backfired But they pulled it off and that is what matters. The songs of this
film are a highlight and also the African proverb at the beginning
"The axe forgets but the tree remembers"
For Andhadhun I've no words. A blind Pianist,
I mean a pianist who is faking his blindness. What an amazing start to a crime
suspense thriller.
This movie, although released in 2018, has been remade in
Telugu, Malayalam and Tamil.
Wow… look how the tables have turned.
This is the 2nd film of Sriram Raghavan to be remade in 3
regional languages. usually, Bollywood copies south but Johnny Gaddaar and
Andhadhun are an exception. The ending of Andhadhun is so brilliantly written
and directed that many have not understood it completely. And if you haven't
understood it then I must say the devil is in the details.
Now let’s jump to Merry Christmas and this brings me to my
2nd point
2) The Cast
Sriram Raghavan's films have the most unique casting choices
ever and I've mentioned it in the previous point.
Coming to Merry Christmas, I could've never in my wildest
dreams imagined Vijay Sethupathi and Katrina Kaif together. And I'm saying this
in good way.
Vijay Sethupathi is such a fine actor. He has done a wide
range of roles in almost all genres known to mankind. You might have seen him
in Jawan or Farzi but if you're not familiar with his work then kindly watch
'96, Vikram Vedha, Pizza, Super Deluxe, Master, Vikram, Viduthalai Part 1
Katrina Kaif's Hindi has improved so much that I literally
had to question myself what has she worked on ….her acting skills, her
diction or both?
And I'm not saying the above line in order to offend anyone. In fact, it is coming from a place of pure appreciation and admiration. Last, I remember seeing her in Tiger 3 where her action sequences had made me wonder whether the movie was Tiger 3 or Tigress 3.
Anyways, coming back to the pairing which was so smooth that
there was no scope of dropping the ball. I don't know how they pulled it off
but they did. This is the wildest pairing that I've seen in ages.
Also, not to forget, the film was simultaneously shot in
Tamil as well so certain secondary characters are different in the Tamil
version rest everything remains the same.
If you're familiar with Sriram Raghavan's filmography then
just like Rohit Shetty he has certain actors who have been a part of his films
Whether its Radhika Apte, Ashwini Kalsekar, Vinay Pathak and I genuinely like when Directors have an on-going rapport with their cast.
3) Storyline
This movie is based on a French book Le Monte-charge by
Frédéric Dard.
Le Monte Charge loosely translates to the bird in the cage.
This movie has flow. I was not bored even for 1 second. It
doesn't deviate much from the storyline but the predictability factor kills the
film.
This film has a setup of the 80s and from the first frame
itself, you're transported to Bombay basically Mumbai but in the 80s. This has
been highlighted in the beginning itself in order to avoid any unnecessary
uproars.
The film leaves very little space to be categorized as a
suspense thriller and just ends up becoming a crime drama. Well not entirely
but it does feel like
Since a lot of people had trouble understanding Andhadhun,
he has literally dumbed-down the movie for the uninitiated audience
The only good thing was that the trailer had presented the
film in a very different way. I thought Vijay's character was the antagonist of
the film but that wasn't the case. Sorry to burst your bubble.
Nowadays trailers literally give out everything but seldom
have the ability to twist the entire storyline in merely 2 minutes. Extremely
well-cut trailer.
4) The Background Score and Songs
“Raat Akeli Thi” is criminally underrated beautifully sung by Arijit Singh. "Nazar Teri Toofan" has a groove to it.
The last 5 mins of the film is completely running on music
and I don't want to spoil it for you but its brilliant. No words only actions
and Vivaldi's Winter by Daniel B. George playing in the background
You look at the time and its already the end of the film. what else can happen now?
5) Verdict
I will give it ⭐⭐⭐.5/5 stars
A Genuine attempt at creating something beautiful worth your
time. But in comparison to Sriram Raghavan's previous flicks, this is dialed
down and often feels like it created for the attention -deficit audience whose
brains have been fried by reels, shorts and TikToks. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it
and didn't feel bored.
If you expect Andhadhun then you'll surely be disappointed but if you're a fan of Sriram Raghavan's filmography then this film is a treat for you.
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