Merry Christmas – movie review

I like Sriram Ragavan movies, right from his first movie “Ek Hasina thi” (based on a Sidney Sheldon novel I guess) and “Jonny Gaddar”(debut movie of Neil Nitin Mukesh) were both quite intriguing to say the least. After watching “Andhadhun” I am quite sure his fan following would’ve multiplied exponentially, for here was one director who was acing thriller genres with brain teasing setups and open-ended climaxes. When I saw the posters of “Merry Christmas” his latest offering, the casting was like…sakkarapongal and curd!! Don’t ask me who is what in this combination but felt it was very weird pairing whose only commonality being their lack of fluency in Hindi (Katrina might’ve picked up after all these years, but Vijay Sethupathi speaks tamil in all languages). But this weird pairing only fueled the intrigue further considering the director’s penchant for such story telling. I wanted to watch this movie on Netflix or on any OTT when it is released, but surprise of all surprises, there was a note from Thala to share a post on this movie!!! Even if Sriram Ragavan himself had sent that note I wouldn’t have been this thrilled but thalai sonnathukaprum no appeal. 

I had initially browsed about the story and read somewhere that it was loosely based on a French movie/novel. While watching the movie, lighta kanna kattified in few places especially in first half. But there were tweets about how clues are strewn around in the first half that has ties to the twist in the end, made me stay awake. The way the scenes progressed it felt like watching a novel on screen, that too a slow-paced novel. The dialogues, especially, were too dramatic and not like casual conversations. It felt as if everyone were talking like a writer, deep in philosophy rather than a common person. The interval block was probably one of the blandest I’ve seen in recent times. The premise and especially the murder plot felt too superlative and a near impossible scenario as a setup. But as a concept it sounded interesting. Rather than feeling sorry for the heroine, it feels scary to be associated with someone who can be so calculative and cunning, bordering on downright psychotic and manic beahvior. The way she handles her child also, doesn’t leave her any leeway for generating sympathy. Who leaves their child, who has speaking disability, alone in a house and goes about gallivanting with strangers in the middle of the night, even though it was all part of a supposedly well thought out plan. I personally felt, the lady character, was devoid of any sympathy and doesn’t deserve the ending. Vijay Sethupathi character is also as confused as the expressions that refuse to come on his face. His dead pan way of putting things used to be enticing at first, but at some point, you should show that you are capable of other expressions as well other than underplay. Why he says he landed from a foreign country at first and gets into the muddle wontedly is anyone’s guess. In fact, had the character been from jail, as revealed, after serving a multi-year sentence, doing what he did would be the last thing such characters would be expected to do, as mentioned as a passing judgement by the police guy towards the end. There is no logic on the way any of the characters behave in this story and that includes such a lousy plot as well, which might’ve sounded fancy on paper but near impossible to implement. 

The ending felt a bit like “Cop and the Anthem” story but felt unjustified. Any murder story, basis the ones I’ve read, should’ve a mind-bending plot or a fairly surprising one at the least, where a small slip or an accidental miss may end up in a grand reveal, which is based on solid sequencing of logical conclusions. In this one, it felt nothing but a lucky break for the lady and a terribly unlucky one for the guy, even though they may try to make poetic sense out of it.

Gils verdict – Merry Christmas being a Pongal release is as relatable as its timing.