Sriram Raghavan directed Merry Christmas, a 2024 Indian Hindi-Tamil bilingual mystery thriller film starring Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi. Ramesh Taurani, Jaya Taurani, Sanjay Routray, and Kewal Garg produced the film through Tips Films and Matchbox Pictures. It is based on Frédéric Dard's French novel, Le Monte-charge (Bird in a cage).
The movie was officially announced in December 2021. Principal photography began the same month in Mumbai, with an irregular schedule in Uttar Pradesh, which was followed by a schedule at the former location, and was completed by mid-January 2023. Pritam wrote the film's music, Madhu Neelakandan handled the cinematography, and Pooja Ladha Surti did the editing.
After multiple postponements, Merry Christmas premiered in theaters on January 12, 2024, to favorable reviews, with Kaif and Sethupathi garnering appreciation for their performances.
Plot:
On Christmas Eve in 1980s Bombay, Albert Arogyasami comes home after seven years away. He goes to a restaurant/bar and meets a woman named Maria, who was supposed to be on a date with someone else but fled because she brought her silent child, Annie.
Coincidentally, after leaving the restaurant, he encounters Maria and Annie at a movie theater the same night, and they connect. Maria invites him to her flat to spend Christmas Eve together. Albert presents himself as an architect who has recently returned from Dubai, while Maria explains she owns a bakery beneath her house. When Albert arrives at Maria's house, he empties his pockets and places a "bird in a cage" ornament he bought earlier that evening on her Christmas tree. As they bond over wine and dancing, Maria discloses her issues with her husband, Jerome. Albert talks about Rosie, with whom he eloped to Goa seven years ago and has since passed away. They decided to go for a walk, and Maria
When they return to the flat, they are stunned to see Jerome dead on the couch, holding a revolver. Maria proposes calling the cops, but Albert refuses to become involved with them again. He explains that he murdered Rosie, had spent the previous seven years in prison, and had just been freed that day. His presence may raise unneeded suspicion, and he attempts to remove all of his fingerprints from anything he touches. He cannot find his toy bird cage before leaving.
Albert takes solace with coffee from a neighboring stall, but is astonished to see Maria walking down calmly with her child again. Intrigued, he follows Maria to the church for midnight mass. She pretended to faint and fell on Ronnie, a caterer. Albert steps in to aid, and they soon return to her home, where Albert is startled to discover Jerome's body missing. When Maria leaves to put Annie to sleep, Ronnie tells Albert that he intends to sleep with Maria. Albert realizes that the toy bird cage is back on the tree.
Maria asks Ronnie to drive her back to the chapel in search of her misplaced watch. They leave Albert off along the road and proceed to the church. Albert, on the other hand, returns to Maria's house by a backdoor stairway and is surprised to find Jerome's body in the same position as before. When Ronnie and Maria arrive, Albert overhears Maria asking Ronnie to phone the police and report the body. Maria enters Annie's room and finds Albert inside, asking him to leave. As Albert climbs down the backdoor stairs, he notices the police. Scared, he attempts to return to Maria's home through the backdoor, but it is locked from the inside. Hence, he proceeds to the upper floor.
Maria walks to the higher floor and is astonished to discover Albert there. Albert informs her that he has discovered that Maria had made a clone of her upper-floor apartment as an alibi, with one exception: one of the flats featured Jerome's dead body on the couch.
Maria breaks down and confesses to Albert that she murdered Jerome. He was dubious of her fidelity and abused her; he may also have abused Annie, who is now silent. She tells Albert how she laced Jerome's drinks with his own drugs and killed him with his own revolver as loud music was playing upstairs. She also describes how she brought Annie to the lower floor by the backdoor steps and placed her in the bedroom to avoid suspicion. Albert offers to help her. They decide to demolish the duplicate apartment. While doing so, they discover Ronnie's wallet concealed in the couch. Maria advises that they destroy it; however, when Albert
During the police interview, Ronnie mentions Albert, who was transported to the police station. As the postmortem report confirms that it was suicide, the police decide to release all three — Ronnie, Albert, and Maria — and close the case. Just as they were about to leave, Ronnie says that he could not find his wallet, which he had left at Maria's house to give himself an excuse to return. Ronnie proposes the possibility that a burglar murdered Jerome and stole his wallet. As a result, the authorities suspect that whoever has the wallet is responsible for the murder. Albert stands still, knowing the wallet is in his pocket. As everyone prepares to go, Annie discloses
Albert understands that if Maria goes to jail, Annie will be orphaned. Albert gently removes Ronnie's wallet and passes it over to the police, hinting that he stole it. Albert takes out a diamond ring he's been carrying around since he wanted to propose to Rosie and hands it to Maria, hinting that he also stole it. Maria knows he is blaming himself for the murder to spare her. She tears up, implying that she is willing to marry him. Albert places the ring on Maria's finger and gives himself in.
📷📷 Screenshot 📷📷
In January 2021, it was claimed that filmmaker Sriram Raghavan had put his directorial endeavor Ekkis, starring Varun Dhawan, on hold owing to the COVID-19 epidemic and began working on a new project, for which he reportedly asked Indian actress Katrina Kaif and Saif Ali Khan to play the major roles. Although Khan approved the script, he was replaced by Tamil actor Vijay Sethupathi as the film required a new coupling. The film's release was reported to be in April, but owing to the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic with Kaif testing positive for COVID-19, the launch was delayed. On December 25, the film was formally confirmed, with Ramesh Taurani and Sanjay Routray serving as producers.Dinesh Vijan offered the title "Merry Christmas" When the filmmaker explored titles using the word "raat" (night), such as Raat Akeli Hai, Raat Ke Hamsafar, and Baat Ek Raat Ki
| Title | Singer(s) |
|---|
| 1. | "Merry Christmas - Title Track" | Benny Dayal | 2:32 |
|---|
| 2. | "Anbe Vidai" | Sreerama Chandra | 4:03 |
|---|
| 3. | "Kanadha Kadal" | Karthik, Anusha Mani | 4:24 |
|---|
| 4. | "Neela Ravile" | Jonita Gandhi | 3:37 |
|---|
| Total length: | 14:36 |
|---|
All lyrics are written by Chandra Bose
Release:
Theatrical
Merry Christmas was originally scheduled to open in theaters on December 23, 2022, but was postponed owing to production problems.Then it was intended for a December 2023 release, before being delayed to January 12, 2024.
Home media
Netflix purchased the streaming rights for ₹60 crore (US$7.5 million) and set the release date for March 8, 2024.
Reception:
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 89% of the reviews from 18 critics are good, with an average rating of 6.5/10.
Rahul Desai of Film Companion called the film "exceptional and remarkably moving…a sublime deconstruction of the romantic thriller" and praised the "self-contained" chemistry between Kaif and Sethupathi. He applauded the duo's performances, particularly Kaif's "performance within a performance," in which she "nailed the ambiguity of a mother disguised as a woman."Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV scored the film 3.5 stars out of 5 and described it as "a
"A delightfully inventive cinematic ride with an evocative and transportive color palette and a soundscape reminiscent of 1980s Hindi cinema." He enjoyed the contrast between Kaif and Sethupathi, claiming that the former delivered "one of the most convincing screen performances of her career, portraying confusion and vulnerability cloaked in occasional flashes of steely determination".Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express rated three stars out of five and thought that "despite their strange coupling, Katrina Kaif
and Vijay Sethupathi manage to collaborate, and she once again proves her acting talent behind all the pancakes and bump-and-grind. According to Monika Rawal Kukreja of the Hindustan Times, "You won't jump out of this Vijay Sethupathi and Katrina Kaif film when it comes to any major surprise or conclusion, but you will enjoy excellent cinematography, clever writing, and an interesting movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat." Even if you just view it once, Sriram Raghavan's cinematic universe is worth watching.
Anuj Kumar of The Hindu described the film as "a sumptuous slice of crime" and wrote, "In this noirish story of a long night, Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi make a surprising duo that works well together." The story's climax is more intriguing than the ending."Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com gave it four stars out of five and commended the performance and direction, writing, "You'll be sighing in Merry Christmas like you've never sighed in a Sriram Raghavan film before thanks to its amazing climax." Lachmi Deb Roy of Firstpost commented in her review that "The movie is guaranteed to bring back fond memories for everyone who loves Bombay, particularly those who adore the Regal theatre."Colaba's lanes and its historic, architecturally gorgeous residences. The film's sluggish pace adds to its charm. Unquestionably, a Merry Christmas is an unforgettable event." Devesh Sharma of Filmfare gave the film four stars, describing it as "a dark comedy that will make you smile and scratch your head at the same time... a noir that showcases the triumph of the human spirit and compassion". He also applauded Sethupathi for "another solid performance" and Kaif for demonstrating "she can stand and deliver... in perhaps, her first full-fledged dramatic role"
Extranal Links:
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
