Katrina Kaif's first film in 2024, Merry Christmas, has begun to pick pace at the box office. On day 3, the Sriram Raghavan directorial made ₹3.75 crore (across all languages), according to a Sacnilk report. In total, the film based on Frédéric Dard's French novel, Le Monte-charge (Bird In A Cage), has collected ₹9.65 crore, the report added. To appeal to a wider range of audiences, Merry Christmas has been shot and released in Tamil and Hindi simultaneously. This project marks the first-ever on-screen collaboration between Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi. In addition to the lead actors, the Hindi version features Radhika Apte, Aditi Govitrikar, and Sanjay Kapoor in important roles.
Along with movie enthusiasts, the film industry is also showering love on Merry Christmas. Filmmaker Atlee, who recently worked with Vijay Sethupathi in Jawan, gave a big shout-out to Merry Christmas on the day of its release. In a note on Instagram Stories, Atlee wrote, "Merry Christmas! I have been waiting to write this one. My favourite narrative of recent times is a beautiful love story with an amazing thriller. Vijay Sethupathi, you were pure class to watch, and the climax performance was wooowwww. You're always an inspiration. Keep inspiring us with such lovely films. Love you. Katrina Kaif's work is stunning. Sriram Raghavan Sir, what a film. It's a pure classic written all over it. Add a blockbuster feather to your cap, Sir."
In an NDTV review, Saibal Chatterjee gave Merry Christmas 3.5 stars and said, “The film opens with a split screen that reveal two mixer-grinders. One reduces chillies and lentils to maligai podi, the other produces a powder from tablets. Both conceal dark secrets. When they are revealed, they unveil two facets of obsessive love gone awry. Isn't life indeed a grind? What one makes of it depends - as it does in the case of the film's two protagonists - of what taste it leaves behind. Filled with stylistic, visual and musical flourishes that significantly enhance the mystery surrounding a Christmas-eve 'romance' between an unhappily married mother of a little wide-eyed girl (Pari Maheshwari Sharma) and a mysterious loner who returns to his Mumbai home after a long absence.”
Merry Christmas was released on January 12.