Merry Christmas: Before Vijay Sethupathi THIS actor was approached opposite Katrina Kaif

Ever since the announcement of Sriram Raghavan’s Merry Christmas, there has been a talk about the unique pairing of Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi in the film. As the trailer dropped, the fans’ interest piqued further when they got to see the two actors romancing in the upcoming thriller. In the latest interview, the director opened up about his idea behind the casting process, and thereby also revealed the actor who was first approached for the male lead part.

On being asked about how he came to think about casting Katrina opposite Vijay, Sriram said, “I had met Katrina casually after Andhadhun and we were discussing doing something and I had the story. As I began, I was like she will be fab in this and then I thought who will be the guy. Then we went through the usual sort of our whole lot and I was trying to compare that either they have done something and I wanted a very unique kind of pairing because that’s the story requirement. One should not get sort of any baggage from either of these and what are these people about and so on. I had met another actor who liked the role but I said sorry because you have worked with her before,” he told Pinkvilla.

Also read: 'Thriller on peak': Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi's Merry Christmas trailer leaves netizens intrigued 

Then Katrina insisted Sriram reveal the name of the actor approached for the role, and the director said it was Saif Ali Khan. “So I had met him and he was a little upset when I told him no. But that time I had not cast Vijay and was saying that I wanted something fresh. Then I was going to Melbourne for the Film Festival and on the way I saw 96 before that I had seen Vikram Vedha and a couple of other movies like Super Deluxe. I met Vijay at the film festival and asked him if he speaks Hindi and he said he had worked in Dubai for quite some time. Then I felt this was a very interesting and oddball combination, it would make people curious. Even I was curious to know how the pairing would work out, so the excitement was there,”he added.

Also read: Katrina Kaif shares an intriguing poster of Merry Christmas with Vijay Sethupati but hints at a twist on the release date

Meanwhile, Merry Christmas is an upcoming mystery thriller also starring Radhika Apte and Sanjay Kapoor in key roles. Backed by Ramesh Taurani, Jaya Taurani, Sanjay Routray and Kewal Garg, the film is set to arrive in theatres on January 12,2024 after several postponements.