Sriram Raghavan's Merry Christmas, starring Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi, minted Rs 2.30 crore on its opening day. According to trade analyst Taran Adarsh, the evening shows pushed the numbers. Taran Adarsh predicted that strong "word of mouth" will be needed to move the numbers upward. He also mentioned in his tweet that Saturday morning shows fared better than that of Fridays. Taran Adarsh wrote in his tweet, "MerryChristmas opens similar to SriramRaghavan's last release AndhaDhun [₹ 2.70 cr]... Dependent on word of mouth to take it forward, MerryChristmas witnessed substantial growth towards evening shows on Day 1... Fri ₹ 2.30 cr." He added, "An upward trend on Sat and Sun is definitely on the cards... In fact, Sat morning shows have opened better than Fri."
After Merry Christmas released, Vicky Kaushal wrote an appreciation post for wife Katrina Kaif. He wrote, "Merry Christmas everyone! So freaking proud of you love for how beautifully you have surrendered yourself to Sriram Sir's masterful storytelling and to the complexities of 'Maria'...Her rawness, her mystery, her magic... All done with such honesty and nuance! And that dance... uff! This one's truly your best work till date." About Vijay Sethupathi's performance in the film, Vicky Kaushal wrote in his note, "Vijay Sethupati Sir... don't know how you bring that childlike innocence in your characters but it's pure joy to watch you bring Albert alive."
Vicky tagged the film's director Sriram Raghavan along with the other actors who are a part of Merry Christmas, including Sanjay Kapoor, Vinay Pathak and Radhika Apte. "How you guys are going to make people jingle all the way when they watch the Film... especially that end! Go enjoy this thrilling fun ride in theatres near you! Merry Christmas in cinemas now," read an excerpt from Vicky Kaushal's post. Take a look:
Merry Christmas opened to positive reviews. In his review for NDTV, film critic Saibal Chatterjee wrote, "Merry Christmas is a delightfully inventive cinematic ride that employs a very 1980s Hindi cinema soundscape and an evocative and transportive colour palette to generate a sense of bewilderment as the spectre of loneliness and the repercussions of lost love - both Maria and Albert have back stories that have brought them where they are at the outset of the film before the duo travels through the film's two-and-a-half-hour runtime in quest of a semblance of deliverance."