Merry Christmas Box Office Day 1: Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi starrer disappoints on opening day, earns THIS much

After Andhadhun's success, there have been high expectations around Sriram Raghavan’s latest release Merry Christmas. Featuring Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi, the crime thriller received mostly positive reviews but underperformed at the box office. Released on January 12, 2024, the film had a dull opening of just over Rs 2 crore.

As per industry tracker Sacnilk, the film earned just Rs 2.55 crore in India on its first day for all languages. While the Hindi occupancy turned out to be 11.56 % on Friday, its Tamil occupancy was 18.02 %. According to trade experts, the film’s collection may witness a rise given the positive word of mouth. The numbers on the following Saturday and Sunday will decide the fate of this movie, as it comes into the thriller genre which pulls relatively low footfalls compared to action and romantic drama.

Also read: Vicky Kaushal reviews Merry Christmas as wife Katrina Kaif’s best work; lauds Vijay Sethupathi’s ‘childlike innocence' 

Merry Christmas is about two strangers-Albert(Vijay) and Maria(Katrina Kaif), who cross paths on Christmas Eve and unfortunate events land them in trouble. The film has been shot in both Hindi and Tamil versions with common lead actors. In supporting roles, Sanjay Kapoor, Vinay Pathak, Pratima Kannan, and Tinnu Anand feature in the Hindi version. In the Tamil version, Radhika Sarathkumar, Shanmugaraja, Kevin Jay Babu, and Rajesh Williams are in the same roles. Radhika Apte and Ashwini Kalsekar make special cameos in both versions.

Also Read: Merry Christmas track Raat Akeli Thi: Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi's subtle romance in this soulful song is captivating

Bankrolled by Ramesh Taurani, Sanjay Routray, Jaya Taurani and Kewal Garg, the film is made on an estimated budget of Rs 60 crore. It is yet to be seen whether the film will cover its cost with profit in the coming days. On the same day, Hanu Man, the Telugu superhero film also released and taken over the theatres. Reportedly, the film has performed better than Merry Christmas as it earned Rs 7.5 crore in India on the first day of release.