Slow burner
Merry Christmas
– Review
‘Merry Christmas’ narrates the story of a fateful night of Christmas eve where Vijay Sethupathi has come back to Mumbai from Dubai, or so he claims, and realises that his mother is no more.
Taking a stroll in the city, he goes to treat himself at a lavish restaurant. There, his path crosses Katrina, who has been stood up by her date because she brought her daughter along.
They exchange quick glances, and meet again inside a theatre.
One thing leads to another and Vijay ends in Katrina’s old-fashioned apartment, only to later find himself caught up in a crime scene.
He can escape any moment, but he decides to stay and help Katrina figure out things.What happens next forms the crux of the story.
The story, co-written by Raghavan along with Arjit Biswas, Pooja Ladha Surti and Anukriti Pandey, doesn’t meander, and swiftly moves from one end to another.
The twists and turns roll out as the story unfolds but they’re nothing so over-the-top.
The dialogues aren’t anything extraordinary, but the subtle humour surely is.
Vijay delivers a standout performance, so flawless that you can’t figure if he was actually playing the character or just being himself.
Katrina is class apart. Her expressions, body language and a restrained act never let her overpower the character.
Though her emotional scenes looked a bit sketchy, but in rest of the portions, she manages to create the desired mystery around her character.
Rest of the cast including Sanjay Kapoor, Tinnu Anand, Vinay Pathak, Ashwini Kalsekar and Pratima Kazmi have small yet important roles in the plot, and they all lend a great support to Raghavan’s mystery universe.
Rating: 3.5/5
By Naveen
