New Delhi: The critics' criticism of Sriram Raghavan's latest film, Merry Christmas (2024), did not come as a shock. Working on the movie with Vijay Sethupathi and Katrina Kaif, Raghavan acknowledges that he was aware that not everyone would enjoy it.
Meery Christmas' reception
In an interaction with Hindustan Times, Raghavan said, “You learn something with every film. Every film is just like your first film. That’s how this industry works. When it comes to my view, I try to look for some sort of variety in the kinds of subjects that I pick, even though they may all be in the thriller genre. There is a bit of variety.”
“For instance, Merry Christmas was a love story in the guise of a thriller. That got me excited. Some people loved it, some people found it slow, but that was something which I wanted to do." He added.
On Andhadhun
The director, who has established himself in the thriller genre, added, “It’s fine. We have to accept it. It was not like Andhadhun, which got so much love from all quarters. I was not even expecting the same love that Andhadhun got. But it was the success of Andhadhun that encouraged me to do something experimental and riskier. I did know that certain people will find the film slow. But in my heart, I was hoping that the film will work on the big screen and will find its audience. That being said, it has its own value, and I am fine with the response that the film got”.
The 2018 film ‘Andhadhun’, starring Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, and Radika Apte, was a worldwide hit. Sometimes a movie finds an audience much later than expected, but ‘Merry’ Christmas is not one of those films.
“I don’t know. For example, when I was a kid, my parents took me to watch a black and white film. At that time, it didn’t excite me but today it is a classic…. Now, because of OTT platforms, the films are there for the audience. Now, there is a Tamil version of Merry Christmas, it will be interesting for me to see how that is perceived,” Raghavn told the publication in the same interaction.