Close X
Monday, December 2, 2024
ADVT 
Bollywood

Katrina triumphs, Sethupati excels in a whodunit

Darpan News Desk IANS, 12 Jan, 2024 12:19 PM
  • Katrina triumphs, Sethupati excels in a whodunit

Mumbai, Jan 12 (IANS) Two strangers meet on a fateful Christmas Eve. A night of delirious romance turns into a nightmare.

Director Sriram Raghavan’s latest 'Merry Christmas' opens with a scene where two sets of mixer grinders juxtaposed in two frames show two recipes: a few tablets being grounded to a powder and the other a mix of red chillies and a lentil mixed to make batter for dosa.

Interestingly, it’s Christmas eve and the city of Mumbai (that was then Bombay) is seen celebrating Christmas Eve. The spirit of Christmas and the streets lit up give us the euphoria building up.

In the mid of all this, Albert (Vijay Sethupathia), an architect who works in Dubai, is returning home after seven long years. He could not make it to his mother's funeral. A neighbour (Tinu Anand) offers him a bottle of homemade wine and shares his bonding with Albert’s mother while he is away.

Albert meets Maria (Katrina Kaif) don’t really meet, not in the slightest romantic way, in fact, as Albert looks at Maria with a small girl (Annie) and a teddy bear in her arms, he offers to help. As they wander the city enjoying the festivities, Maria’s rather sad face begins to light up and Albert’s Christmas begins to look merry. Maria then takes Annie to a movie Pinocchio where she finds Albert seated too.

A friendly chat later, the three of them return to Maria’s flat Rose apartment where she also runs a bakery named Jupiter Bakery. All this while, their conversations reveal just the bare minimum. Maria invites Albert to her home and easy banter follows between the two. After putting Annie to bed, Maria decides to go out again with Albert and leaves a note for her husband, Jerome (Luke Kenny) that she would be back in an hour.

What follows is a shocking body of Jerome plonked on a single sofa seater with a gunshot wound on his chest.

Taking immediate charge of the situation, Albert tries calling up the police but stops wondering how he would explain the sudden body when they had gone out for an hour.

Soon, what seemed like a happy festival turns menacingly evil.

Director Sriram Raghavan’s mastery of several twists and turns come to the fore as we see characters and a dead body making the happy ambience turn ominous. There are other people who start joining in -- Sanjay Kapoor tries to help out an unconscious Maria at a church and all along believes he could have a lucky day with a pretty lady.

The plot gets complicated as mystery shrouds the disappearance of Jerome’s body, Albert’s quiet demeanour, Sanjay’s wily ways as inspector Vinay Pathak and his assistant Pratima Kazmi begin to find holes in the story that both Maria and Albert narrate.

The nearly two hour long film reminds us of the vintage Hitchcock and his unsurpassable tone. Not saying much and yet revealing much for all those who wish to see what is not easily seen, Raghavana takes off from his much acclaimed 'Andhadhun' starring Tabu, and leaves us with intrigue, mystery and questions that one would keep wondering about. If Madhu Neelakandan’s camera work beautifully captures the old Bombay of the 80s, it’s Pritam’s musical score and Daniel B George’s background music that become other significant characters in the narrative. George relies heavily on western classical influences and gives us unique pieces of music that gel so well with dramatic scenes.

From among the cast, Katrina is a revelation. Her quiet moves and consciously deadpan expressions add enigmatic to Maria.

Vijay Sethupati is perfectly cast as a murderer, who has spent seven years behind prison for murdering his wife (Rashika Apte). Sanjay Kapoor as an opportunist man is good too.

If you want to watch a thriller with a twist, go for it!

Director: Sriram Raghavan

Cast: Katrina Kaif, Vijay Sethupati, Sanjay Kapoor

Camerawork: Madhu Neelakandan

Music: Pritam, Daniel B George

Duration: 141 minutes

IANS Rating: Three and a half stars

Photo courtesy of Instagram (Katrina Kaif)

MORE Bollywood ARTICLES

Ranbir-Alia name newborn daughter 'Raha'; Alia shares first pic

Ranbir-Alia name newborn daughter 'Raha'; Alia shares first pic
Explaining the multiple meanings behind her daughter's name, Alia wrote in the caption: "Raha, in its purest form, means divine path; in Swahili she is Joy; In Sanskrit, Raha is a clan; in Bangla -- rest, comfort, relief; in Arabic, peace; it also means happiness, freedom & bliss."

Ranbir-Alia name newborn daughter 'Raha'; Alia shares first pic

Veteran actor Vikram Gokhale passes away

Veteran actor Vikram Gokhale passes away
The condition of Gokhale, who was suffering from multiple illnesses and undergoing treatment at the Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital, deteriorated this afternoon and he breathed his last a few hours later.

Veteran actor Vikram Gokhale passes away

Kartik Aaryan celebrates birthday with parents and pet dog Katori

Kartik Aaryan celebrates birthday with parents and pet dog Katori
On the work front, Kartik is gearing up for the release of his streaming movie 'Freddy'. The teaser of his film 'Shehzada' in which he stars opposite Kriti Sanon was also released on the occasion of his birthday.

Kartik Aaryan celebrates birthday with parents and pet dog Katori

SRK's Mumbai bungalow Mannat gets a diamond-studded nameplate

SRK's Mumbai bungalow Mannat gets a diamond-studded nameplate
In the pictures, two diamond nameplates could be seen with Mannat written on the left side and Landsend written on the right. Previously, it was a blackboard with Mannat Landsend embossed on it. Landsend because the sea-facing bungalow is situated in the land's end part of Bandstand in Bandra.

SRK's Mumbai bungalow Mannat gets a diamond-studded nameplate

Vicky dons 'masaledar' new look in 'Govinda Naam Mera', to release on Dec 16

Vicky dons 'masaledar' new look in 'Govinda Naam Mera', to release on Dec 16
The film is slated to release on Disney+ Hotstar. Directed by Shashank Khaitan, 'Govinda Naam Mera', is about a charming Govinda Waghmare who juggles his time and love between his wife and his girlfriend in this dose of chaos, confusion, and laughter.

Vicky dons 'masaledar' new look in 'Govinda Naam Mera', to release on Dec 16

Ajay Devgn to attend 'Drishyam 2' special screening at 53rd IFFI on Nov 21

Ajay Devgn to attend 'Drishyam 2' special screening at 53rd IFFI on Nov 21
The National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC) took to Twitter on Thursday and shared a video of Devgn along with the update that the film will be screened on November 21 in Goa, where it has been mostly shot. Devgn will attend the special screening.

Ajay Devgn to attend 'Drishyam 2' special screening at 53rd IFFI on Nov 21