Merry Christmas for Murder Mubarak, Regional movies storming up OTT

March 31, 2024 0 Comments

Thanks to Netflix, and other OTT platforms, I can watch a good deal of movies while nursing my toddlers. Sleep bereft during pregnancy and post-delivery, became a luxury that I could not afford or buy until my mom came. Of course. 

While watching movies at theatres has its own fun but new mother like me esp with twin children, can only dream of going out. Hence, OTT comes as a fresh breeze wherein you can watch, re-watch, and snack on movies and series in the comfort of your child's mood and your sleep availability. 

So earlier this month, I caught these two movies [read title] using my husband's Netflix account. Thank God, I didn't have to buy a Prime subscription like I did for Dahad and Satyaprem.  It was worth it for Dahaad though and Satyaprem could have been better than the bha oops pasuri it turned out at many places. Never mind, Karthik Aryan and Kiara Advani's film had one of my favorite stars- Supriya Pathak, and that made up for it. That reminds me- if Kehvat Laal's family been released on OTT yet and is there any update on "Carry on Kesar"? 

For the uninitiated, these are two Gujarati films that I have been meaning to watch. Yeah, after moving to Ahmedabad, I have developed a strong liking for Gujarati movies too. There are so many good Gujarati films to watch like Golkeri, Dear Father, Thai Jase, and more.  Unfortunately, it is difficult to find them on OTT whereas you can find almost every K drama or typecast Hollywood film online. BTW, you can watch some quite good Malayalam films on OTT [with translation and subtitles of course]. Start with Jaya Jaya Hey on Hotstar, which also houses some other amazing movies including the recently released Baipan Bhari Deva [Marathi].

Murder Mubarak

Murder Mubarak is a modern-day multi-starrer with popular names like Karishma Kapoor, Sara Ali, Dimple Kapadia, Vijay Verma, Pankaj Tripathi, Tisca Chopra, Sanjay Kapoor, and more. However, if one guy steals the show is [un] lead actor but a very important part of the film- ... GFY [Go Find Yourself, sometimes it is good to search deserving actors on Google too]. You would have seen him on TVF Aam Aadmi Family or the recently released- Mamla Legal Hai.

The rest of the stars are either too overwhelming [like Sara Ali's Bambi Todi] or too underplayed [Like Dimple Khanna in a very minuscule role yet looking so delish and Tisca Chopra playing a typical Aunty Turn Modern in Chetan Bhagat' era]. Actually, the film's treatment is quite CB's style, and no matter how interesting the plot is or could have been, the characters look caricaturish. The film also has Grusha Kapoor who brings ease and freshness in her small role. Pankaj Tripathi looks the same as in almost all his films of late and his constant dig at his assistant looks borrowed. 

Overall, the film is indeed a good one-time or a repeat watch if you ignore the over-imposing cliche characters built in Indian Novels, further translated on screen. You expect some suave characters too and no Vijay Verma alone enough cannot fill that gap completely for the film with Brijesh Kalra.

Merry Christmas on the other hand has just one star- Vijay Sethuraj. I am sorry but I am bigg fan of Vijay Sethuraj, especially when he acts in Hindi films or series. Yes, I watched the whole Farzi for him. And he was the reason, of course along with the mystery built-in with Bollywood demi goddess Katrina Kaif in the film's trailer. I am so oblivious to the directors these days that I learned it is S Raghavan's film from a friend's Facebook post. However, the unkind comparisons with the director's previous venture- Andhadhun didn't act as a dampener. Until they showed Luke Kenny's dead body, the film made me think they were going to kill Vijay Sethuraaj or he would kill Katrina as it was obvious that he killed Rosie. Radhika Apte played the gold mining lover's role perfectly. Am sorry if you have not seen the film but I didn't tell you that she played Rosie or Bouganvillea. 

Bad jokes aside, except for the over-extended demolition scene [which may have been a good watch in theaters as the suspense unfolds], I was quite besotted watching Sethuraaj and his Tamil accent Hindi. Sanjay Kapoor was loud as ever in his new-found stereotyped genre but if that's what it is, it is what it is. 

Notwithstanding any comparison with the director's previous hits, I liked Merry Christmas and you know why. 

So, here's a short and sweet personal review of the two murder mysteries hitting the OTT. If you have seen the film, do care to share your views in the comment [if you are still reading my blog even after years of inactivity]. 

Both the movies are 1000 times better than Neeyat [reviewed earlier in this blog]

And since I mentioned Mamla Legal Hai, I must share it is indeed a great watch. Go and watch it [again] on Netflix. Oh Netflix, I love you.