Katrina and Vijay in a still from the film. (courtesy: YouTube)
Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi's film Merry Christmas is creating quite the positive buzz at the box office. Merry Christmas is Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi's first on-screen collaboration and it is also the first time Sriram Raghavan has worked with the two superstars. On day 4, the film directed by Sriram Raghavan earned ₹1.65 crore, according to a report by Sacnilk. The Tamil version of the film contributed ₹20 lakhs, while the Hindi version accounted for ₹1.45 crore. Overall, the film, based on the French novel Le Monte-charge (Bird In A Cage), has collected ₹11.38 crore (across all languages), the report added. Sriram Raghavan's Merry Christmas is facing tough competition from other Pongal/ Sankranti releases such as Dhanush's Captain Miller, Mahesh Babu's Guntur Kaaram and Prasanth Varma's Hanu-Man.
NDTV's Saibal Chatterjee wrote in his review of the film: “In a literal sense, things - and lives - move up and down in Merry Christmas, but the film itself is stupendously even-keeled. Rarely is languor so totally hypnotic. The controlled momentum of the film, and even its occasional lack of pace, is an integral part of the design. Every cut, every camera angle and every bit of blocking enhances anticipation and foreboding without letting on what exactly is to be expected round the corner…Merry Christmas is as Hitchcockian in its unsettling twists and turns as it is Rohmerian in its sustained and piercingly unsentimental moral probe into the dynamics of love, loyalty and betrayal.”
During the promotions of Merry Christmas, Katrina Kaif shared her experience of working with Vijay Sethupathi and Sriram Raghavan. She said, "Our first meeting was all three of us (Katrina, Vijay and Sriram Raghavan) together in a room and I had recently seen a picture of Vijay Sir and he had full white hair and a white beard. So when I entered the office I didn't know what to expect and when I saw him like this I said ‘oh wow' that's a really different look. Everything for me about this film; I was extremely excited to be working with Sriram Sir and Vijay Sir and as soon as we came together in a room, I think everyone came just as themselves and we instantly were able to connect. The minute Vijay sir started speaking about the scene it was fascinating, I just thought that this is the person who uses things in such a unique way and Sriram Sir has a very unique take on everything he does."
In addition to Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi, Merry Christmas features Radhika Apte, Sanjay Kapoor, and Aditi Govitrikar in major roles.