With Merry Christmas, director Sriram Raghavan investigates the idea of executing “A Perfect Murder” to craft an enticing murder mystery and pulls it off with such finesse that even the idea’s avid explorer, Alfred Hitchcock, would have appreciated this cinematic effort.
The film begins with Albert (Vijay Sethupathi) returning to his ancestral home in Mumbai (then known as Bombay) after a seven-year absence. To shake off the sadness surrounding his mother’s death, he takes advantage of Christmas Eve to get himself reacquainted with the city. As a result, he ventures to a bar in search of a solitary drink but ends up meeting Maria (Katrina Kaif), accompanied by her mute daughter, Annie (Pari Sharma). Maria invites Albert to her house after they strike up a pleasant conversation. Following the daughter’s bedtime, they continue to enjoy each other’s company with drinks and dancing, eventually deciding to go to Albert’s house. They open up about their private lives, including Albert’s affair with Rosie (Radhika Apte), a woman he loved but never got the chance to marry due to her untimely death, and Maria’s horrific marriage to her violent husband. However, the romantic evening quickly turns into a nightmare when Maria and Albert uncover a dead body at her home.
The screenplay (Hindi version), written by Raghavan, Arijit Biswas, Pooja Ladha Surti, and Anukriti Pandey, and based on Frédéric Dard’s French novel Le Monte-charge, takes its sweet time establishing the lead characters and the formation of their relationship. Using fluid camerawork and excellent mise-en-scene, Raghavan depicts the locations they visit in great detail, be it Maria’s house, Albert’s place, the church, etc. These scenes never feel like a drag because the screenplay keeps you invested by subtly hinting at something fishy at every turn. For example, Albert acts suspicious when he sees the police (a girl sitting next to me in the theatre whispers that he is a serial killer), Maria’s behavior is enigmatic, and there’s no apparent reason why she befriended a stranger so quickly. Also, you constantly get the impression that they’re both hiding something. After watching the film, one realizes that along with the progression of a romantic narrative, ulterior motives are at work, and the order of the places they visit plays an important role later in the film, which would make the first half even more engaging upon subsequent viewings.
The film’s narrative structure can be categorized into three acts, each focusing on a different genre: romance in the first act, thriller in the second, and suspense in the third. Sriram Raghavan adeptly manages the smooth transition between these genres and expertly leads us on the emotional path he wants us to follow. The romantic angle of two strangers meeting and getting to know one another in a single night feels reminiscent of Richard Linklater’s Before Trilogy and Eric Rohmer’s films (no wonder he thanks Rohmer in the opening credits). The thriller angle can be broken down into two halves, with the first focusing on Albert, who becomes the center of attention, especially following the revelation of some crucial information about his past life. The focus then shifts to Maria’s character in the second half, and her story arc emerges as a genuinely surprising development. By the end of the second act, all the cards are on the table, and everything is revealed. But Raghavan saves the best for last, delivering a jaw-dropping climax devoid of dialogue that answers the question, “Does a perfect murder exist?” after building tremendous anticipation among the viewers. As a result, the final scene is surprisingly heartbreaking, harrowing, romantic, and one of the best ending scenes I have seen in a long time. Furthermore, elements such as the gun, the talking caged parrot toy, Yadhoom uncle’s (Tinnu Anand, who plays Albert’s neighbor) homemade wine bottle, and the paper swans that Albert makes by himself are all examples of how Raghavan expertly employs the idea of Chekov’s gun to further the story and reveal important information at crucial times.
In a career-best performance as Maria, Katrina Kaif deftly navigates two characters in one—the authentic Maria and the Maria who must pretend and conceal her true self—while displaying an impressive array of emotions. However, Vijay Sethupathi’s sincere and moving performance as Albert—the character whose eyes speak volumes—is the glue that holds the film together. It is interesting to note that his character is introduced with an opening iris shot, symbolizing a new beginning, and his concluding scene ends with a closing iris shot (similar to Matt Damon’s character in Martin Scorsese’s The Departed (2008)), suggesting that the world is closing in on him. Without spoiling anything, it serves as an impeccable visual depiction of the progression of Albert’s story within the film.
Merry Christmas movie links: Letterboxd, IMDB
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