Do you love thrillers? I do. Are you tired of watching big-budget action entertainers that are mindless? I very much am. I love clever, artful, smart thrillers that are edge-of-the-seat. The thrill that these films exude is contagious. Sriram Raghavan’s upcoming neo-noir action thriller titled Merry Christmas promises to be a film of this kind. The movie boasts of elements such as murder, suspense, intrigue, and deception – themes that we have seen in most of Raghavan’s previous films.
About The Film, Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas, starring Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi as the protagonists, is slated to release on 12th January in cinemas. The film will be released in both Hindi and Tamil. Merry Christmas is directed and co-written by Sriram Raghavan, who is known as the “Godfather” of the “neo-noir” genre in contemporary Bollywood.
Kaif and Sethupathi play the roles of two strangers who happen to meet on a Christmas Eve in the bustling city of Mumbai. Following this, the night turns rather nasty as a series of mysterious events unfold. Both the protagonists are hiding secrets from each other. So far, very little has been revealed about the plot of Merry Christmas.
Reportedly, Merry Christmas is adapted from a French novel. The novel is a thriller but it also explores human relationships. Unlike Andhadhun which has a number of twists and turns, Merry Christmas follows a simpler and a more linear plot. It is a one-night story in which everything happens over a period of one night.
Titbit: Merry Christmas reportedly has a run-time of 90 minutes without an intermission.
About The Director, Sriram Raghavan
Sriram Raghavan is known for his action thrillers that largely adhere to the “neo-noir” genre, an “unstructured genre of crime film”. Dark films with a tinge of cynicism. Black comedies with modern sensibilities. Graphic representations of violence and sexuality. Detailed exploration of complicated psychological, or existential, or survival themes, plagued by a sense of ambiguity. These are certain themes that stain Raghavan’s films. Murder, suspense, mystery, revenge, and unusual female characters are a few of Raghavan’s chief hallmarks.
Raghavan made his directorial debut with Ek Hasina Thi in 2004. He gained greater popularity with his best-known films, Badlapur (2015) and Andhadhun (2018). The two films star Varun Dhawan and Ayushmann Khurrana as the male leads, respectively. Both are critically acclaimed films that received positive reviews and are commercial successes.
We know so little about the upcoming thriller that it is impossible to talk further about it without watching it. Hence, the rest of this blog post talks about a few similarities that I noticed between Raghavan’s previous films, Badlapur and Andhadhun. What if some of these things turn out to be common to Merry Christmas too?
Beware of spoilers ahead, if you have not watched Badlapur and Andhadhun!
Raghavan’s Films Are Often More About The Characters Than About The Crimes
In Badlapur, two friends Liaq and Harman, rob a bank in Pune and steal a car to flee. The car belongs to Misha (played by Yami Gautam), Raghav’s (played by Varun Dhawan) wife. While the two friends are fleeing in the car, Robin, Raghav’s son, falls out of the car and dies. Misha is shot and succumbs to the wounds. Later, Harman jumps out of the car, and Liaq gets arrested. Following this, Raghav decides to take revenge on the culprits.
The “animal instinct” in Raghav is at an all-time high as he is ready to go to any extent to murder those who killed his wife and son. He murders two people too, and has no mercy on the culprits. He does not fear anyone or anything, he does not even fear the police. He seeks “closure” by murdering Harman in cold blood. The entire film is about Raghav, his psyche, and his revenge. Though the film is plot-driven too, most of it talks about the protagonist and how he decides to act, and how he treats the other characters. The plot follows the character, or rather, the protagonist. Badlapur is Raghav’s story.
In Andhadhun, Ayushmann Khurrana plays the role of a budding pianist named Akash. He fakes being blind because he believes that lack of vision while he is making music removes distractions and helps him focus better on his craft. Enter Sophie (played by Radhika Apte) who becomes his love interest in no time. Akash is invited to play the piano at a former film actor’s residence. As he enters his flat, he is greeted by Simi (played by Tabu), his wife. He soon realises that Mr. Sinha, the actor, has been murdered by his wife herself, probably.
Akash unknowingly gets involved in a series of problems as he witnesses the murder. Things get pretty mad and chaotic as the events unfold in the movie. Akash finds himself embroiled in the unpleasant murder, and the film shows how he acts and reacts to what the characters have in store for him. Both Ayushmann and Tabu’s characters, their psyches, their complexities, and how they act, define the plot of the film. Andhadhun too is Akash’s story.
The Films Begin With Heinous Murders
As soon as Badlapur begins, Robin falls out of the speeding car and dies. Misha is shot and dies later. They both are rushed to the hospital, but they succumb to their injuries. Raghav is a young husband and a young father. The loss of his immediate family devastates and unnerves him. Similarly, Andhadhun begins with the murder of Pramod Sinha, a former actor. Simi and Manohar, Simi’s boyfriend, clean the scene by stuffing Pramod Sinha’s body in a suitcase. And Manohar leaves the apartment with the suitcase, possibly to trash the body. Both these films begin with crime and murder. And that simply adds thrill to the narrative.
The murders are cleverly executed. For instance, in Badlapur, the way Raghav murders the culprits is smart and shrewd. Similarly, in Andhadhun, the murders that ensue after Pramod Sinha’s death are all smart and clever. These elements make a thriller film stand out from the rest.
Raghavan’s films are violent, visceral, twisted, dark, and exciting. But most importantly, they are unpredictable. And that’s what makes his films so interesting. Raghavan keeps you on your toes, and keeps you hooked on the edge of your seat, until the very end. And you shall still keep wanting more.
The Films Tell Tales Of Two Characters, One-on-one
For instance, Badlapur is Raghav vs Liaq. Andhadhun is Akash vs Simi. Two characters confront each other directly, and that’s how the plot builds and develops. Two individual characters lead the whole story. Their encounter develops the conflict, and their encounter determines the denouement. Some of the posters of the films too reveal the same.
In Badlapur, Raghav (Varun Dhawan) is a young man who loses his family which leaves him devastated. His wife and son succumb to their injuries and die, and he decides to take revenge on the culprits. Charged with a wild desire for vengeance, he hunts down the miscreants and kills Harman and his wife.
Liaq (played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui) is one of the men who was involved in the bank robbery but he is not alone. He has a partner, Harman. Harman is smart because he jumps out of the car and flees with all the money. Liaq is denied his share of the money. In fact, Liaq gets caught and is imprisoned. Raghav violently attacks Liaq in prison and later learns about Harman.
In the end, Raghav kills Harman and his wife, but Liaq, who is terminally ill, remains alive. Raghav does not kill him probably because he would anyway die soon. Raghav attempts to murder Liaq. He wants to kill him. He is after him. Liaq tries to protect himself. He tries to tell Raghav the truth about his innocence as he is not the one who had shot his wife, Misha. He wants to seek forgiveness from Raghav. Badlapur is, through and through, Raghav vs Liaq.
In Andhadhun, Akash (Ayushmann Khurrana) is a pianist who pretends to be blind as it helps him focus better on his craft. One fine day, he goes to play the piano at a former film actor’s apartment. He almost freezes as he sees that the actor has been murdered but he cannot do anything about it because he has to pretend to be disabled. He witnesses how the crime scene is cleaned by Simi and Manohar. However, he later goes to the police station to lodge a complaint but he does not because he finds Manohar in the police station.
Akash unwittingly gets involved in the murder, and it becomes quite an ordeal for him. He is caught by Simi as she realises that he is not blind and he knows about the murder. Simi murders a few other people who could be possible witnesses to clean the crime scene and remove suspicion. Simi complicates things for herself, but more for Akash. Akash cannot escape. He must deal with it.
Simi actually makes Akash blind by mixing a drug in his food. He becomes blind, and then he loses his mind. He desperately wants his vision back and even opts for an eye surgery. However, the doctor, taking advantage of his blindness, tries to take out his kidneys and sell them, while he lies in the operation theatre. Andhadhun soon becomes a tale of existential and survival crisis for both Akash and Simi. Akash tries to save himself from Simi. Simi tries to escape from Akash. Things grow wild as the film turns into a Simi vs Akash affair.
Unusual Female Characters With Complex Psyches Are Common In Raghavan’s Films
The women are more complicated than the men in Raghavan’s stories. And the women complicate the lives of the men, besides complicating their own lives.
In Badlapur, there’s Jhimli (played by Huma Qureshi). She is a sex-worker, she is Liaq’s girlfriend, and she cohabits with a local businessman. Although she wasn’t involved in the murder, she has possible leads and hints because she knows Liaq personally. There’s Kanchan, Harman’s wife, who is ready to sleep with an unknown man in order to free her husband from his clutches, knowing that her husband is a murderer.
There’s Shobha, a social worker who works for the rehabilitation of prisoners. She becomes fond of Raghav when Raghav comes to meet her and pretends to be in love with her. All these female characters are largely eccentric who complicate their own lives and complicate other people’s lives too.
In Andhadhun, there’s Tabu’s Simi, Pramod Sinha’s wife. She is the most eccentric female character that I’ve witnessed in a Hindi film so far. Her husband is killed by her boyfriend. She kills an elderly neighbour to remove suspicion. She tries to kill Akash. She tries to kill the doctor. She tries to kill or harm everyone who has any possible clue of Pramod Sinha’s death.
She overpowers the doctor at the steering wheel when Akash is escaping with the doctor in a car. She drops Akash off on the road and leaves, but comes back again to run over him. That’s when a bullet from a nearby hunter blows her car off and she loses control of the steering wheel, and is killed.
Radhika Apte’s Sophie is quite a sane character but, we have another female character in the film who is as eccentric. She’s Sakhu, a woman who assists the doctor in his makeshift clinic. She first tries to sell Akash’s kidneys when he lands up in an illegal clinic to get back his vision. She then lets him go but later ties him and Simi up, and locks them up in a room with no ventilation.
Both Badlapur and Andhadhun have two or three female characters who are so eccentric and peculiar that their ways unnerve the audience. Female characters with idiosyncrasies – is one of Raghavan’s hallmarks.
It Looks Like Pune Is Raghavan’s Favourite City
Both Badlapur and Andhadhun were extensively shot in various parts of Pune, or around Pune.
Badlapur opens with a shot of MG Road in Pune. Beginning in the Camp area in Pune, Badlapur was also shot in Café Columbia, and on Prabhat Road in Shivaji Nagar. Raghav lives on Prabhat Road with his family. The film beautifully captures the city of Pune in daylight as well as at night. The film was also shot in areas near and around Pune.
Andhadhun was almost completely shot in Pune. MG Road, FC Road, Koregaon Park, Magarpatta, and the archaic Peth areas are a few places in Pune where the film was extensively shot. Akash lives on Prabhat Road. Simi lives in Magarpatta. Café Goodluck on FC Road too features in the film. An extensive sequence was shot in Khadki as well. Andhadhun captures the essence of Pune beautifully.
Possibly, Pune is Raghavan’s favourite city. Raghavan was born in Bombay (now Mumbai) but he spent his life in Pune. He did his schooling in Pune, and he studied at Fergusson College in Pune. He graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) which is also in Pune, near Law College Road. Having spent so many crucial years of his life in Pune, it seems justified why we get to see so much of the city in his films.
(PS: By the way, I live on Prabhat Road too!)
Merry Christmas is shot in Mumbai, I believe. Because allegedly, the protagonists meet in the city of Mumbai on a Christmas Eve. We perhaps might get to see a bit of Pune in the film too! Let’s find out by watching the film itself.
Radhika Apte. Is She Raghavan’s Personal Favourite?
Radhika Apte plays an important role in Badlapur. She plays the role of Harman’s wife, Koko. Radhika Apte plays the second female lead in Andhadhun. She plays an equally important role in the film. Radhika Apte has a cameo appearance in Merry Christmas too, as per reports.
In Badlapur, Radhika Apte plays the role of Kanchan or “Koko”, Harman’s wife. She is an innocent lady who is not aware of how Harman is guilty of murder. Raghav meets Kanchan on the road one day, and offers to give her a lift because it is late in the night and she is alone on the street, helpless, because her car’s tyre is punctured. Raghav gives her a lift, and befriends her. He visits their restaurant too, and visits their house when Kanchan calls him over for lunch.
However, his true intentions are soon revealed as he threatens to call the police and take revenge. Kanchan pleads with him to forgive Harman but Raghav demands to sleep with her in exchange for forgiveness. He pretends to have sex with her in the bedroom, and manhandles Harman as well. One fine day, after Liaq is released from prison, he arranges a meeting with Harman to get his share of the money from the bank robbery. However, Raghav reaches their house before that and kills Harman and Kanchan with a hammer.
In Andhadhun, Radhika Apte plays Sophie, Akash’s love interest. One day, while Akash is crossing the road, pretending to be blind, he gets knocked over by Sophie. Sophie takes care of him and drops him off at his apartment. Soon, they get involved in a romantic relationship. Sophie is impressed by Akash’s piano-playing skills, and calls him over to play at her father’s dinner party.
However, a few weeks later, Sophie gets to know from a child in the neighbourhood how Akash feigns being blind. She feels deceived and hurt. When she arrives at his residence to visit him, she finds that Akash and Simi, after Simi’s husband’s death, have been sleeping together. Heartbroken, she gets furious and leaves Akash. Akash later calls up Sophie to ask for help when he is blinded by Simi’s drug but she refuses to help him.
Two years later, Akash and Sophie suddenly meet in a city in Poland where Akash is performing at a gig. They sit at a public place and Akash narrates to her everything that happened with him after she had left him. Akash tells her the whole story (which you can find out by watching the film on Netflix if you have not already), and Sophie thinks that he is still blind. However, as he leaves, he hits a can out of his way with his walking stick, indicating that he can see.
Cliffhangers. Open Endings.
Do you know what a cliffhanger is? A cliffhanger is an abrupt ending to a story, leaving unsolved twists and turns in the plot. It is used to create suspense and make the viewers think. An ambiguous or inconclusive ending leaves the events shown in the movie up to the judgments and interpretations of the audience.
A cliffhanger leaves behind unresolved plot twists and unanswered questions. It leaves ample scope for a sequel to continue the story. Another thing that a cliffhanger does is it provokes the mind of the viewers. A cliffhanger keeps the viewers thinking. It keeps them hooked, tense, and wanting to know more. The viewers are free to think, come up with theories of their own, form their own judgments or conclusions, or stay tuned for a sequel or so.
How Badlapur ends is interesting! Raghav kills Harman and his wife Kanchan with a hammer. A policeman (played by Kumud Mishra) grows suspicious of Raghav. He has evidence against him, so he blackmails Raghav to give him Liaq’s share of the money from the bank robbery in exchange for forgiveness. However, he refuses to do so because he does not fear anyone.
Later, Liaq takes the blame for Raghav’s crimes, and gives him another chance to live his life without guilt. After a few months, Liaq dies in prison because he was terminally ill. Raghav realises the futility of his revenge when Jhimli, Liaq’s girlfriend, comes and confronts him. She then leaves, leaving Raghav standing in the rain. Raghav has taken revenge. He has killed Harman. Liaq has also died. The movie ends abruptly but Raghav’s “badla”, which was the whole point of the film, suddenly looks futile and bleak to the viewers.
How Andhadhun ends is far more interesting and intriguing! Two years after Simi was killed when her car blew off, Akash meets Sophie by chance in a city in Poland. The two of them sit at a café and Akash narrates to her everything that happened after she had broken up with him. She is baffled. It is revealed that Simi was killed. The doctor had advised Akash that Simi’s organs could be sold for millions, and that her corneas could be used for Akash’s eye surgery.
Akash, when he meets Sophie in Poland, is not blind. He can see. However, he does not tell Sophie that. Sophie believes that he is still blind. When Sophie leaves and Akash crosses the street, he knocks a can out of his way with his walking stick which reveals that he is not blind. Whose eyes does he have? We are not told that.
When Andhadhun was running in cinemas, social media platforms were flooded with different theories and interpretations that people were coming up with. As per my understanding, I believe that Simi survived a number of burns when her car blew off, leaving her in a condition not suitable for organ donation. Murli, another character in the film, is killed by Manohar, who is a police officer. I believe that Akash gets Murli’s corneas to restore his vision.
How the film ends is rather abrupt but most importantly, it makes the viewers think, analyse, and engage with the story. That’s the magic of a cliffhanger!
Raghavan’s Upcoming Project After Merry Christmas
Sriram Raghavan is an intelligent filmmaker who makes intelligent films. He releases only one film over a period of two to three years, but he makes sure that he does his job smartly. Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi make an unconventional pair. The casting looks brilliant and slick. Reportedly, Merry Christmas begins as a romance but soon turns into a thrilling and horrific ride.
Ikkis, starring Agastya Nanda, is Sriram Raghavan’s next project after Merry Christmas. Earlier, Varun Dhawan was roped in to play the lead role. Directed by Sriram Raghavan and produced by Dinesh Vijan under Maddock Films, Ikkis is slated to release in January, 2025. The movie is based on the life of Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal, the youngest recipient of the Param Vir Chakra, which is India’s highest military decoration. The film reportedly also stars Dharmendra.
Make sure you watch Merry Christmas on 12th January in cinemas. Get ready to lose your calm as a wild tale unfolds!
(Featured Images Courtesy: Twitter and Wallpaper Cave)