Director: Sriram Raghavan
Writer: Sriram Raghavan, Arijit Biswas, Pooja Ladha Surti, Anukriti Pandey
Cast: Vijay Sethupathi and Katrina Kaif
Stars: 3.5/5

The Plot

It is a story of two strangers meeting at a pub one night; a story of two unreliable narrators; a story of a murder that reveals the body of lies; and a story that goes beyond just being a murder mystery and becomes a brooding tale of urban loneliness.

Sriram Raghavan’s Merry Christmas is based on Frédéric Dard’s 1961 French novel Le Monte-Charge (Bird in a Cage), which was earlier made into a movie way back in 1962 by Marcel Bluwal. It follows Albert (Vijay Sethupathi) who has come back to his city on Christmas Eve after spending years away from home. He returns to his late mother’s now-empty apartment but instead of spending the night there sipping his neighbors’ homemade wine surrounded by the ghosts of his past, he goes on a stroll around his neighbourhood trying to drown his gloom amid the glittering Christmas lights. But little does he know that he is walking into a cage (the bird motif is scattered in multiple forms throughout the film with Albert’s hobby of creating origami swans and the Christmas bird-in-a-cage decoration) from which he will not be able to get himself out of.

As he prepares to treat himself for a hearty Christmas dinner, he meets Maria (Katrina Kaif) who is accompanied by her daughter and her huge teddy bear (which acts as a MacGuffin). What transpires is a delicious tale of loneliness, failed loves, and deception laced with humour and intrigue that unfolds in a time-capsuled world of landline phones, single-screen theatres, gramophone records, weighing machine tickets, red and black postboxes, and the like.

What Lies Beneath

Sriram Raghavan is known for his easter eggs and homages, and here he dedicates the movie to Shakti Samanta (the very fact that he chooses Shakti Samanta, known for his nuanced take on romantic dramas in particular and human relationships in general, over Hitchcock, the master of suspense, should give you an idea of what to expect). And what more? He starts the movie with a screaming scene of Asha Parekh as Madhu, a woman pretending to be a widow in Samanta’s Kati Patang—that the core of the movie would hinge around deception is thus established from the get-go. This is enforced further when we see Albert and Maria watching Pinocchio where the titular protagonist is a wooden puppet who has his nose grow longer with each lie.

While the absent son sending letters to a blind mother which is read aloud to her by the neighbour reminds one of Mario Martone’s 2022 Italian-French drama Nostalgia, the long conversation between Albert and Maria at her house is more of a direct homage to Yash Chopra’s 1969 film Ittefaq where we have Rajesh Khanna and Nanda’s characters engrossed in the similar moment. Then we have the 1988 Die Hard which is a story that unfolds in one night and it is on Christmas Eve. And who can forget the classic Before Sunrise where we have two strangers randomly meeting and spending the night roaming on the streets, chatting.

There are passing mentions of Ernst Lubitsch’s The Merry Widow, his own blockbuster, Andhadhun (like the ‘blind’ witness in the 2018 movie, here we have a mute witness), and the cult classic, Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyoon Aata Hai, and all find their context into the plot in a rather Sriram Raghavan way. There are old songs that make occasion appearances and we have Jab Andhera Hota Hai Aadhi Raat Ke Baad from Raja Rani (1973) and Pyar Ke Mod Pe from Parinda (1989) (Finding Easter eggs is a bonus activity that one indulges in while watching a Sriram Raghavan movie, and I don’t want to be the spoilsport)

The Craft

But this is much more than a murder mystery or a trick-or-treat. Merry Christmas is in fact a poignant tale of love and urban loneliness disguised as a thriller. It might as well be Sriram Raghavan’s best if unintentional attempt at an intimate love story. And it is made with love. The writing is brilliant and even the bleakest moments are tinged with a breezy situational humour.

Raghavan is known for his detailing and even here each frame is immaculate. The creaky, decrepit, and desolate old building where Maria’s apartment is situated makes for a perfect crime scene, while the reds and greens of the house effortlessly reflect the Christmas spirit and it is dimly lit, which adds a layer of gloom to it. The dark lanes sporadically illuminated by fairy lights and Christmas cheer almost reflect the lives of these two strangers who are trying to find and hold on to some flickering moments of hope, but just like Christmas, these small joys are ephemeral.

Madhu Neelakandan’s cinematography creates poetry out of the prosaic. Pooja Ladha Surti’s editing could have been crisper—although the pace gives the movie a lived-in feel, some bits feel a tad stretched and indulgent. The music, especially Daniel B. George’s background score is superlative but never overpowers the narrative. It is just spot on and enhances the thrill. Varun Grover’s words and Pritam’s music are good, but you will not find yourself humming any of the songs while leaving the theatre.

But the biggest triumph for Raghavan here is getting the lead pair spot on. On paper, Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi might seem like the unlikeliest couple ever envisioned in the history of cinema, but their crackling on-screen chemistry will take you by surprise and make you root for this charming couple. They are perfect foils for each other. If Sethupathi is a masterclass in nuanced acting, Katrina here is almost at par – she looks exquisite, fits the part to a T, and delivers. In fact, both actors give restrained performances that work like magic for their characters.

Here Maria, much like Kareena Kapoor’s Maya D’souza in Jaane Jaan, is a fragile beauty who has suffered greatly and survived all torments, her daughter is the love of her life and her strength, and when the daughter is attacked, she finds all the courage in the world to take charge of the situation. As Albert points out, Maria looks like a dream, but lashed with sharp whips of reality her soul is bruised and battered. And Katrina captures the dichotomy perfectly. She brings to Maria a simmering stoic sadness that settles in her eyes with the ease of kohl.

Vijay Sethupathi is earnest as the brooding and extremely polite Albert and often imbues him with a childlike innocence that makes this man with a dark past, endearing. He excels in delivering the humour-laced lines with a poker face and in moments of rage, his transformation proves why he is considered among the greatest actors of our times. He becomes Albert. The absolute awe with which he approaches the gorgeous Katrina aka Maria adds the x-factor to their chemistry—it is almost as if he is scared to touch her for that might wake him up from this dream. But this is a fever dream spiked with deceit.

The cast also includes Sanjay Kapoor, who is a treat to watch as the flamboyant but cowardly married churchgoer looking for an easy fling, an affable Tinnu Anand as the friendly neighbour, Ashwini Kalsekar as the perturbed and confused wife of Kapoor, and a Vinay Pathak and Pratima Kazmi as the quirky but competent police inspectors who ensure that the last bit of the movie remains buoyant. These form the merry bunch of this Christmas tale. Then there is Radhika Apte, who plays Radhika Apte again…a tortured, disturbed, and perennially irritated, screeching human.

The Underwhelming Aspect

The last 20 mins after the big reveal feel dragged. Although this bit ties together the love story and makes it more poignant (it also has one of the most beautiful proposal scenes I have watched recently and stellar performances by the brilliant ensemble cast of Vinay Pathak, Pratima Kazmi, and Ashwini Kalsekar), it gets predictable and it doesn’t help that we still have The Devotion of Suspect X and Jaane Jaan so fresh in our minds. An open-ended climax would have served the ‘thriller’ better. But then, with this one, you go for the thriller but stay back for the love story.

The Verdict

Although it has a murder mystery at its core, this Sriram Raghavan noir is essentially a heartbreakingly beautiful love story that lingers on, even when the ‘thrill’ is gone. However, if you are going for a taut thriller, this might not be it. The pace of this slow burn doesn’t lend itself to an edge-of-the-seat, nail-biting experience, and post the big reveal, the story becomes largely predictable. But the beauty here lies in the journey and not so much in the destination. The devil here is indeed in the details. Watching Merry Christmas is like reading a heartwarming and achingly beautiful love story sitting by the fire on a snowy night sipping wine —but then, maybe there’s a murdered body slowly burning in the grate!