Director's Cut: Sriram Raghavan reveals real reason why release of Vijay Sethupathi, Katrina Kaif-starrer Merry Christmas is postponed

This year, there were two big Hindi films lined up for release during Christmas. Rohit Shetty’s Cirkus and Sriram Raghavan’s Merry Christmas. As per media reports, despite having a very apt title for this festive season, the Vijay Sethupathi, Katrina Kaif-starrer Merry Christmas has been pushed ahead to avoid a clash with Cirkus. This is despite the fact that previously, producer Ramesh Taurani had confirmed that there would be no change in the date and Merry Christmas would release on December 23 this year. Sriram has received several accolades for making brilliant films and is also recipient of two National Awards. We don’t think he would have shifted the date to avoid any ‘clash’. Here’s the real reason...

Recently, The Free Press Journal met Sriram during the launch of Monica O My Darling. When we had quizzed him about the release date of Merry Christmas, he had told us, “Well! You rightly said that since the title is Merry Christmas, it needs to be released in this festive season only. But due to certain unavoidable reasons it took us some time finishing our shooting schedules on time.”

When we further pressed about the reason for postponing the film’s release, he had stated, “Truly speaking, we have already finished shooting but we are still completing our post-production work. It is almost over but we need to look into every aspect of post-production so the film will not be released on the 23rd, this Christmas.”

Normally, Bollywood star Aamir Khan’s films used to release during this festival. We had jokingly asked Sriram if he had taken over Aamir’s favourite date. He smiled and shared, “It’s not so. There are a few films already made and ready for release as we all were facing the pandemic. Also, as the title suggests we wanted to release it in this festive season only. But as a director, I have to present the film to my audiences with perfection as they trust us.”

The team of Merry Christmas dropped a poster of the film on November 24. It mentions the following, “We wanted to release the film this Christmas… but there is a twist. See you in cinemas soon!” The film will hit screens next year in Hindi and Tamil.