2 Stars (out of 4)

“Merry Christmas” was filmed concurrently in Hindi and Tamil. This can be a evaluate of the Hindi model.

One thing obtained misplaced in Merry Christmas‘s translation from web page to display screen. The thriller doesn’t fairly work, due in no small half to a miscast lead duo.

Director Sriram Raghavan’s newest thriller is an adaptation of French creator Frédéric Dard’s novel Hen in a Cage. Set in “Mumbai when it was referred to as Bombay,” the story follows a fateful assembly between two mysterious strangers on Christmas Eve.

Albert (Vijay Sethupathi) returns to his mom’s house for the primary time in years after working overseas. Mother died some time in the past, and her walker nonetheless stands subsequent to the mattress, as if ready for its consumer to return.

He goes to a elaborate restaurant and watches a person ditch a stupendous lady, Maria (Katrina Kaif), and her little daughter, Annie (Pari Maheshwari Sharma), in the midst of dinner. Intrigued, Albert follows mom and baby to the flicks. When Annie falls asleep, Albert provides to hold her residence.

Maria invitations Albert in for a drink and places on some music to set the temper whereas she places Annie to mattress. Christmas tunes, certainly. Or perhaps one thing seductive? Nope, Maria places on “Within the Corridor of the Mountain King” by Edvard Grieg.

This sequence in Maria’s house is the place the movie misplaced me. In addition to the bizarre musical selection — which is defined later, although not precisely why that specific piece of music wanted for use — the house is lit so brightly from above that it seems to be just like the set of a TV sitcom. The unnatural lighting makes a goofy sequence through which Albert and Maria dance to vacation tunes look downright weird.

It’s a disgrace since constructing interiors are in any other case one of many movie’s strongest fits. The decor within the restaurant and theater are beautiful. The wallpaper in Maria’s house is significantly gorgeous.

That is additionally the purpose within the film the place we should always begin to get a way of who Albert and Maria are and what they may need from one another. But there may be zero chemistry between Sethupathi and Kaif, so it’s laborious to inform. They each appear to be they’re simply going via the motions.

The issue actually is simply the 2 of them collectively. In a flashback scene reverse Radhika Apte, Sethupathi is a wholly completely different actor. And I’ve seen Kaif in sufficient movies to know she’s able to a lot better with the precise accomplice.

The disconnect between the 2 leads makes the primary half of the movie crawl till a suspicious demise resets the tempo and raises questions. Sadly, the renewed tempo doesn’t final for lengthy, slowed once more by performing that feels flat.

When the reality of what’s taking place is revealed, it lacks a way of inevitability. I think there are particulars which may have stood out extra within the e book that weren’t emphasised visually within the movie. Fairly than ending with the viewers saying, “Aha!” Merry Christmas ends with an “Okay.”

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