The movie Merry Christmas, featuring Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi, recently hit theaters and has garnered positive reviews from both the audience and critics. Directed by Sriram Raghavan, the film also includes Sanjay Kapoor, Vinay Pathak, and more in the cast. The movie signifies the director’s comeback to theaters following his successful 2018 film Andhadhun. Recently, the director opened up on why comparison with Andhadhun unfair.
Sriram Raghavan on Merry Christmas’ comparison with Andhadhun
During a recent interaction with Indian Express, Sriram Raghavan mentioned that the response for Merry Christmas has been positive. However, there are those who prefer Andhadhun instead. Regardless, that wasn’t my intention. Some find the initial pace a bit slow, but personally, I believe that the gradual pace is necessary for everything to come together in the end.
Unlike Andhadhun, Merry Christmas is a slow-paced film that encourages the audience to fully immerse themselves in its atmosphere and suspense. Raghavan emphasizes that Merry Christmas is meant for theaters because it allows the audience to stay focused without distractions that may come from watching it at home. He added, “At home if you watch this on OTT, you may stop in 5 minutes, and may not come back again. But in a hall since you have invested your time and money, maybe people will grant me a few more minutes to set up the mood.”
After the occurrences of a single night in Mumbai, previously known as Bombay, Merry Christmas takes a profoundly romantic turn, leading to a thrilling and creative climax, as mentioned by Raghavan. He added that there are a few people who expected an exciting and action-packed film, but this isn’t that type of movie. Despite that, he observed people clapping at the end when he visited some cinemas.
He said, “A few people who wanted, ‘Oh what the hell!’ kick, those are missing that. But this is not that kind of a film, and yet even I witnessed there were people clapping by the end of it in some cinemas that I visited! The sound of their applause is music to my ears. What else is there to ask for.”
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While Andhadhun is now recognized as one of Raghavan’s quickest and most eccentric thrillers, the filmmaker remembers that early feedback suggested the murder in the film was happening “too late” in the story. “I preview my movies with a few friends to gauge their reactions and anticipate how the audience will perceive it. When they watched it without any prior knowledge, some of them pointed out. He said, “I show my movies to a few friends to see their reactions, so that I am prepared for how the movie is going to be seen. They knew nothing about the film and were cold-watching it. A bunch of them told me, ‘oh you know what the murder is happening too late in the film! It is around 30 minutes, which is too late. Can you bring it around 5 minute mark?’ I was like, ‘No! This is not that movie.’ Here, I got emboldened and wanted to push it a bit. But I am really happy,” he shared.
About Merry Christmas
The film Merry Christmas, with Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi as the main characters, was shot in both Hindi and Tamil. In the Hindi version, you’ll also see Sanjay Kapoor, Vinay Pathak, Pratima Kannan, and Tinnu Anand, while the Tamil version features veterans like Radhika Sarathkumar, Shanmugaraja, Kavin Jay Babu, and Rajesh Williams. Radhika Apte and Ashwini Kalsekar make special cameo appearances in both versions.
