Merry Christmas is a top-class crime drama from India. This thrilling story is set in the erstwhile Bombay metropolitan city, which is called Mumbai city nowadays.
Its acclaimed film director Sriram Raghavan has given us good films, like, Ek Hasina Thi (2004), Jhonny Gaddar (2007), Badlapur (2015), and Andhadhun (2018) in the past. His latest – Merry Christmas film is available in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu languages. However, we have seen it in the Hindi language, so we shall review the same version here.
Synopsis of the Merry Christmas (2024) Hindi Movie
Two strangers meet on a fateful Christmas Eve. A night of delirious romance turns into a nightmare. Revealing anything more would be a crime.
Rating of the Merry Christmas (2024) Hindi Movie
| FM Rating | 4.00/5 |
| FM Short Comments | We have always loved Sriram Raghavan’s skilful style of storytelling of a crime. His masterful direction always keeps us on our toes to look for the twists and turns in the suspenseful layered plotline of the film. Both Katrina and Vijay have played their part almost perfectly in this enjoyable thriller. |
Spoiler Free Review of the Merry Christmas (2024) Hindi Movie
The introduction
It seems that it is inspired by Frederic Dard’s French Novel ‘Bird in a Cage‘, which was also made into a French movie titled ‘ Le monte-charge’ (Paris Pick-Up) in 1962.
Another interesting aspect is that it is for the first time, that the Film Director Sriram Raghavan has shot in two different versions with a common lead pair but different actors. Thereby, it has been made in both Hindi and Tamil languages. This film is the first bilingual film of Sriram Raghavan’s career as a filmmaker.
The [official] storyline of the film goes like this
On Christmas Eve, Albert (Vijay Sethupathi) returns home after several years of being away. Grieving for and adjusting to the loss of his mother, he steps out seeking cheer in the Mumbai city’s Christmas Eve festivities. He meets the beautiful and mysterious Maria (Katrina Kaif), and her little daughter Annie (Pari Sharma) who is mute.
The night fans into long walks and conversations, sparking unexpected, but undeniable, magnetism between Albert and Maria. For Maria, Albert is everything she could have asked for… And for Albert, Maria is nothing short of a Christmas miracle. But things soon turn dark and an evening of romance turns into a nightmare.
Please note, we are not sharing any spoilers here.
The USP of the film
Well, the unique selling point (USP) of Sriram Raghavan’s Hindi film is an apt but unusual pairing of Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi as the lead pair in this crime drama. This kind of pairing adds a lot of talking points and generates a huge amount of interest in the film. Both Katrina and Vijay have shared their thoughts on their matchup in a newspaper interview.
For us, this unconventional pairing of Katrina and Vijay brought an unexpected result for the audience. It added an extra layer of doubt and mystery to their story. And we loved that.
“I was shocked because everybody had that question… I am doing it (film) with Katrina Kaif, so they said, ‘Is yours a guest role? Is it a heroine centric film?’. Everybody knows Katrina. It was a shock for me also. Like how is it going to be in the film, everybody’s asking, ‘how is this pair on screen?’. The same way I also have that fear and the doubt.”
Vijay Sethupathi | Indian Express
In a certain way, this "Merry Christmas (2024)" film reminded us of the "Ittefaq (1969)" film, which is Director Yash Chopra's cult classic film starring Rajesh Khanna and Nanda. Both the Hidni movies are crime thriller wherein the unusual lead pair are stuck together because of the unexpected happennings and the crime. Even the Director Sriram Raghavan has confirmed the said inspiration in his many post film release promotional interviews. Most likley, the poster of this film is an ode to that 1970s era of Hindi Cinema. In addition, this film takes us to pre-1995 period, when Mumbai was famous as Bombay.
Not so long ago, we saw Katrina in the hit Tiger 3 movie, which was a blockbuster. Besides, we had last seen Vijay in the superhit Jawan film as well as the hit Farzi series. Now in this suspense thriller, Katrina has played her part (of an attractive but enigmatic woman) very well. And what can we say about Vijay Sethupathi, he is an immensely gifted actor, who can play all sorts of roles with aplomb. In this film, he is a sad and guilt-ridden softie, who is willing to do anything for his (one-sided) love and affection.
The conclusion
We loved watching this pair of Katrina and Vijay in this cat-and-mouse game. Being a crime thriller, there are not many songs in this Hindi film, however, we liked one of its songs. You can check out the said song in the spoiler below, as perhaps it also explains the shocking (not for us but many others in the hall) ending of the film. To conclude, we reiterate that it is a thrilling suspenseful movie to watch. You will enjoy it – Merry Christmas!
Spoilers Alerts – Merry Christmas (2024) Hindi Movie
Our favourite Hindi song from this film from India
Raat Akeli Thi – Merry Christmas
This soft romantic love song sets the mood and explains the film’s ending, to a certain extent.
Singer: Arijit Singh
Lyrics: Varun Grover
Music: Pritam
The two Mixie’s connection to the two Murders
There are two murders in this film. The mixie is linked to both murder victims.
- Rosie
- Jerome
And we are sorry again for not sharing further details about the killings. As it might spoil your viewing pleasure of the film.
Poster of the Merry Christmas (2024) Hindi Movie
Key Details about the Merry Christmas (2024) Hindi Movie
| Genre | Drama, Thriller |
| Original language | Hindi and (also shot in Tamil and dubbed in Telugu) |
| Duration | 2 hours 24 minutes |
| Released | 12 January, 2024 |
| Writers | Sriram Raghavan, Arjit Biswas, Pooja Ladha Surti, Anukriti Pandey |
| Movie Director | Sriram Raghavan |
| Music Director | Pritam |
| Cast | Katrina Kaif (Maria), Vijay Sethupathi (Albert), Pari Sharma (Annie), Sanjay Kapoor (Ronnie), Tinnu Anand (Yadhoom Uncle), Luke Kenny (Jerome), Vinay Pathak (Police Inspector), Ashwini Kalsekar (Ronnie’s Wife), Radhika Apte (Rosie), Pratima Kannan (Laxmi), etc. |
| Distributor | Pen Studios | Tips |
Trailer of the Merry Christmas (2024) Hindi Movie
Merry Christmas | The links of its Tamil Trailer and Telugu Trailer on YouTube.
Featured Image and Poster of the Merry Christmas Movie | Pics. Credit: Tips India