1. Rating: 3 stars on 5
   Director Sriram Raghavan is known for his black comedy crime thrillers and his last film ‘Andhadhun’ established him as one of the master storytellers of this genre. After five years, he returns to theatres with ‘Merry Christmas’, adapted from Frederic Dard’s novel ‘Le Monte-charge’, starring Vijay Sethupathi and Katrina Kaif. At the outset, the signing of two stars who come with such different sensibilities and from different cinematic universes is intriguing in itself. Perhaps this was a deliberate attempt on the director’s part to give the audience the unexpected right from the get go.
   ‘Merry Christmas’ is set in Mumbai or Bombay, as it was known then, in the 80s and takes off with a split screen visual of drugs being ground in a mixer on the one hand and spices for idli gunpowder being ground on the other with a diamond ring being embedded in it finally. Two distinct ideas to say the least.
   The movie unfolds with Alfred (Vijay Sethupathi) returning to Mumbai after many years and how he accidentally meets Maria (Katrina Kaif) and her daughter as he explores the city on his first night back. Obviously, it is not just as simple as that – there is love, murder, mayhem and what happens eventually between Alfred and Maria.
   Merry Christmas is a black comedy crime thriller but director Sriram Raghavan takes his own time to tell this tale. In the first half of the film, he sets up the meeting of Alfred and Maria and forays into their lives, different personalities and how they form a bond over the course of a few hours. For instance, Alfred tells Maria he has been in Dubai where he led a ‘disciplined’ life that hints he might have been in jail. Maria gives him insight into her marriage with Jerome. The dance that ensues which both move to with gay abandon possibly symbolizes the freedom they want to feel from their lies, literally and figuratively. What are the secrets that Maria and Alfred have? What is going to happen between them? How does murder figure in this story?
   The movie runs at a slow pace as the complex personalities of the two protagonists are unraveled bit by bit. One may feel the movie really didn’t move forward much in the first half as there are hardly any twists and turns but the second half makes up for it. It is the carefully-crafted visuals and the blossoming love story between Maria-Alfred that the focus is on.
   Vijay Sethupathi keeps you hooked with his performance and it is refreshing to see Katrina Kaif in a role that is completely performance-oriented. There are no gimmicks, costumes and dances to hide behind – it is just the pure screenplay between these two stars.
   ‘Merry Christmas’ is not as thrilling a ride as ‘Andhadhun’ was – there are not too many surprise factors in the film and the ending is unconventional. One expected better writing given the director’s calibre but this movie seemed to be experimental rather than adhering to a tried-and-tested formula. Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi are truly the stars of this film and hold it together. With Merry Christmas, there is no in-between – you’ll either like it or you won’t.