Casting : Vijay Sethupathi, Katrina Kaif, Kavin Babu, Radhika Sarathkumar, Sanmugarajan, Radhika Apte, Rajesh, Pari Maheshwari Sharma, Ashwin Kalshekar
Directed By : Sriram Raghavan
Music By : Pritam and BGM – Daniel B.George
Produced By : Ramesh Taurani, Sanjay Rautray, Jaya Taurani, Kewal Gar
Vijay Sethupathi, who works in Dubai, returns to his home in Mumbai after many years. Vijay Sethupathi goes to a restaurant as the town is aglow with Christmas lights at dawn. Vijay Sethupathi meets Katrina Kaif who is there with his daughter, and on seeing her, he continues to follow her wherever she goes. At one point the two travel together. While the two, who are strangers, talk about their lives, Katrina Kaif talks about living in conflict with her husband, while Vijay Sethupathi talks about his girlfriend’s breakup.
Meanwhile, Katrina Kaif puts her daughter to sleep, goes out again with Vijay Sethupathi, returns home to find her husband dead by shooting himself, and the events that follow with unpredictable twists and turns is ‘Merry Christmas’.
Rather than being a typical suspense thriller film, the story and visuals move in a classic style. In particular, avoiding the style of a suspense thriller film to be fast-paced, the director draws the attention of the fans by placing many cues in every place, even though the scenes travel slower than that in the slow-moving screenplay.
In particular, things like Katrina Kaif having a lot of thriller novels at home and watching Hitchcock’s ‘Rebecca’ indicate that a big suspenseful event is about to take place, what will it be? Director Shriram Raghavan, who keeps the story moving by creating expectations among the fans, has given the fans a different experience by creating an image that something new is happening in every scene, even the twists and turns in the second half.
Vijay Sethupathi, who plays the role of Albert Arogyasamy, as usual grabs attention with his natural performance. Vijay Sethupathi, who has acted very casually without showing excessive emotions anywhere, has shown many emotions like fear, tension, sadness and love through his eyes. Moreover, his decision to understand the situation in the final scene and the way he acted in that scene shakes the theater with the sound of applause.
Katrina Kaif who plays the heroine is the right choice for the role of the brave and take-it-all traveling girl and she has handled the role perfectly.
Gavin Babu, Radhika Sarathkumar, Shanmugaraja, Radhika Apte, Rajesh, child star Pari Maheshwari Sharma, Ashwini Kalsekar who have played other roles have given strength to the screenplay even though they have less work to do.
Madhu Neelakandan’s cinematography is like a painting. Since the story is traveling at night and it is a Christmas festival, he has decorated the scenes with red colors and lanterns.
In the music of Pritham, the lyrics of Yugabharathi are melodious but the songs are roughly ragam. Daniel B. George’s background music has carried over strongly to the film.
Although the scenes are the mysterious death of someone and the events surrounding it, cinematographer Pooja Lata Surti has composed the scenes so that the film travels at a uniform pace from the beginning to the end.
Director Sriram Raghavan, who has written and directed the script written by Pradeep Kumar S, Abdul Jabbar, Prasanna Bala Natarajan and Latha Karthikeyan, has tried to give a different crime suspense thriller to the cinema fans. Likewise, the use of each and every item in the film for the flow of the story and the twists and turns adds to the strength of the film.
Although the first half of the film is not for populist fans, the second half and the last 20 minutes of the scene at the police station are enough to keep fans on the edge of their seats. Even if you sit on the edge of the seat, the scenes move very quietly without any fanfare or excitement, and the stars in the scene express their feelings through their eyes without speaking any lines, giving us the experience of watching a suspense thriller film that we have never seen before.
