The film was officially announced in December 2021. Principal photography commenced the same month in Mumbai along with a sporadic schedule in Uttar Pradesh, which was again followed with a schedule in the former location, and wrapped by mid-January 2023. The film has music composed by Pritam, cinematography handled by Madhu Neelakandan and editing by Pooja Ladha Surti.
After several postponements, Merry Christmas was released in theatres on 12 January 2024 to positive reviews, with the performances of Kaif and Sethupathi receiving praise.
In Bombay of the 1980s, Albert returns home after seven years, greeted by his neighbour uncle, who informs him about his mother's recent passing. Due to Albert being unreachable, uncle had to organize the funeral without him. Uncle hands him over bottle of home-made wine prepared by him which he has named "Yadhoom". It’s Christmas Eve and Albert goes to a bar/restaurant where he encounters a stranger who was meant to have a date with a beautiful woman named Maria. The stranger cancels it upon seeing Maria with her mute child, Annie, and requests Albert to tell her that he had to leave for some urgent work.
Albert, in turn, shares the situation with Maria and leaves the restaurant. By chance, he again meets Maria and Annie at a cinema, watching the film The Adventures Of Pinocchio, and they connect. Maria invites him to her apartment to celebrate Christmas Eve together. Albert introduces himself as an architect who has just returned from Dubai while Maria says she owns a bakery beneath her house. At her home, Albert hangs on her Christmas tree a "bird in a cage" ornament that he had purchased earlier that evening. While Maria plays loud music, she offers him whisky and goes to put Annie to sleep. After that she returns to drink wine and they both dance together. As they bond, Maria reveals the difficulties in her marriage to Jerome who was initially her boyfriend's friend and has now become abusive. Albert talks about Rosie, his boss' wife whom he had fallen in love and eloped to Goa with seven years ago and who then had decided to go back to her husband but had passed away since. They then decide to go out for a walk and Maria writes a note for her husband who she says might come back anytime. They decide to show each other their favourite spots in the city and then Albert invites her to his apartment where his neighbour uncle sees them.
After some time, upon returning to Maria's apartment, they are shocked to find Jerome lying dead on the couch, with a gun in his hand and Maria starts crying. Maria suggests calling the police, but Albert says he does not want to be involved. He reveals that he was the one who had killed Rosie and had spent the last seven years in prison and had just been released that day. He says his presence could lead to unnecessary suspicion on both and leaves but before that he tries to wipe off all his fingerprints but is unable to find the toy bird cage. Shaken, Albert seeks solace with tea at a tea stall nearby but is surprised to see Maria walking down calmly with her child again. Intrigued, he follows Maria who goes to midnight mass at the church. There she pretends to faint and falls on Ronnie, a caterer. While Ronnie decides to take her to hospital, Albert intervenes to help him and he asks Albert to drive his car. Maria wakes up and asks them to take her to her house. Returning to Maria's apartment, Maria offers them drink and asks them to come up. Albert is surprised to find Jerome's body missing when they go inside. Maria plays music, offers drinks to them and goes away to put Annie to sleep while Ronnie reveals his intention to sleep with Maria. Albert notices that the toy bird cage is on the Christmas tree and is surprised since it was not there when he came the second time.
Maria asks Ronnie to drive her to the church to find her lost watch and writes a note to her husband who she says might come back anytime. Ronnie suggests to drop Albert off on the way to which he agrees. Albert suspects Maria since he had already seen an old lady giving Maria her watch that she had dropped while fainting in the church and she had put it in her purse while Ronnie was away getting the car. After dropping Albert off, Maria and Ronnie head to church. Albert however returns to Maria's home through a backdoor staircase and is shocked to discover Jerome's body in the exact same position when he had come the second time. He comforts Annie who is sleeping in her bedroom. He asks her not to get petrified and says he is "Santa". When Ronnie and Maria return, Albert hears Maria cry seeing the dead body and asking Ronnie to call the police who promptly does so. As Maria comes to see Annie in her room, she finds Albert there and asks him to leave. As Albert climbs down the backdoor stairs, he sees the police and in fear of being mistaken as a thief, he tries to go back to Maria's home through the backdoor but finds it locked from the inside. Hence, he proceeds to go to the upper floor where he is flabbergasted at what he sees. Meanwhile, Ronnie asks Maria to narrate all the events as they happened but they mutually decide not to mention anything about Albert as it would lead to unnecessary confusion. The police, suspicious of Ronnie, take him to the station after sealing the crime scene.
Soon after, Maria goes to the upper floor but is surprised to see Albert there. Albert reveals to her that he has found out that Maria had created a replica of her apartment as an alibi in the upper floor where she had taken him the first time and again the third time when he had come with Ronnie whereas the dead body was in the lower floor and she had taken him there the second time and also the final time when she came with Ronnie - thereby creating a situation as though Jerome was dead while she was away with the stranger.
Maria breaks down and confesses to Albert that she killed Jerome as he was suspicious of her fidelity and abused her. She reveals how she spiked Jerome's drinks with his own drugs and killed him with his own gun in his own hand while loud music was playing upstairs when Albert came the first time. She also reveals how she used to bring Annie to the lower floor through the backdoor stairs to avoid suspicion. Albert offers to help her. They decide to destroy the replica apartment. While doing so they find Ronnie's wallet hidden in the couch but Albert holds on to it and decides to return it to "Lost & Found" section in the church the next day. He also asks Maria to give the toy bird cage to Annie as a gift from Santa and leaves for his apartment.
During the police interrogation, Ronnie reveals about Albert as proof for the events unfolded. Albert is brought to the police station the next day. There he reveals that he was on parole from Nashik jail and that he had not revealed the fact to Ronnie but he testifies Ronnie's statement as true. Maria's version also matches their statements. As the postmortem report reveals it to be suicide, the police decides to let go of all the three - Ronnie, Albert, and Maria — and close the case. However, Ronnie admits that he is ashamed to agree but he had deliberately hidden his wallet in her couch so that he can come again to her home with the excuse of searching it but it wasn't found the second time he came. Maria says she didn't find any wallet.
Thus, Ronnie puts forth a theory that a thief might have broken in and during his theft attempt, he might have killed Jerome and left with his wallet. Thus, it is deduced that whoever has the wallet might be the killer. Annie, playing with the toy bird cage which Albert had given, reveals to the police that it was given to her by her "Santa" and points her finger at Albert - thus negating the events as explained to the police. At this point, Albert shows Ronnie's wallet to the police and surrenders to them before which he puts an engagement ring on Maria's finger, implying that he will take the blame to save Maria.
In January 2021, it was reported that director Sriram Raghavan had put his directorial venture Ekkis, starring Varun Dhawan, on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic and began working on a new project, which he reportedly approached Hindi actress Katrina Kaif and Tamil actor Vijay Sethupathi for to play in the lead roles.[6] The film's launch was reported to be made in April, however, due to the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic and Kaif testing positive for COVID-19, the launch was delayed.[7] On 25 December, the film was officially announced with Ramesh Taurani and Sanjay Routray as producers.[8] The title "Merry Christmas" was suggested by Dinesh Vijan, when the director considered titles containing the word "raat" (night) such as Raat Akeli Hai, Raat Ke Hamsafar and Baat Ek Raat Ki.[9]
Casting
Producer Ramesh, while speaking to ETimes, said "Vijay suited the role perfectly so we approached him for this film." and "Katrina was always our only choice for the role right from the beginning."[10] In early March 2022, Sanjay Kapoor was announced to play an important role in the Hindi version of the film.[11] In April, Radhika Sarathkumar was also announced being a part of the cast of the Tamil version.[12]Vinay Pathak was announced as a part of the cast of the Hindi version in August. He was further more said to be playing a key role in the film.[13]Shanmugarajan reprises Vinay Pathak's role in the Tamil version.[14] In July 2023, Ashwini Kalsekar and Radhika Apte were announced to be playing a cameo in the film.[15]
Filming
The principal photography began on 25 December 2021, with the first schedule in Mumbai.[16] The shooting was put on hold in early January 2022, due to rising of COVID-cases.[17] The shooting started again in early February in Filmistan Studio in Mumbai.[18] Sanjay started filming his portions in March.[11] Katrina continued filming her portions on 11 March.[19] The first schedule concluded in March.The second schedule commenced on 19 March in a studio in Chitrakoot. The schedule was said to be 45-days long.[20]
Raadhika Sarathkumar started filming her portions in April.[12] Due to an fire incident in the district in August, the schedule was moved to a studio in Vrindavan.[13] The second schedule finished in November. In the third schedule, which commenced in November in Mumbai, pictures of Katrina, Sethupathi and Kapoor from the sets were released on social media's by paparazzi's.[21] Further more pictures were taken few more days after the former.[22] The principal photography wrapped in January 2023, with an official confirmation on Sethupathi's birthday.[23]
Post-production
Raghavan started the post-production works in mid November 2022, as the filming was in the last schedule.[22] Raghavan, in May 2023, revealed that the film is a bilingual film, meaning that it was simultaneously shot in Hindi and Tamil languages.[14] The film marks Raghavan's and Kaif's debut in Tamil cinema. Each version will reportedly have a different set of co-actors.[24]Deepa Venkat dubbed for Katrina's character in the Tamil version of the film.[citation needed]
Music
The music is composed by Pritam, marking his Tamil debut.[25] The audio rights were acquired by Tips Music.[26] The first single titled "Merry Christmas Title Track" was released on 25 December 2023. The second single titled "Nazar Teri Toofan" was released on 4 January 2024.[27] The third single titled "Raat Akeli Thi" was released on 10 January 2024.[28]
Merry Christmas was initially set to release in cinemas on 23 December 2022, but got delayed due to production delays.[29] Then it was planned for a December 2023 release, before being rescheduled to 12 January 2024.[30]
Home media
The streaming rights were bought by Netflix for ₹60 crore (US$7.5 million).[31][3]
In Film Companion, Rahul Desai described the film as "exceptional and remarkably moving… a sublime deconstruction of the romantic thriller" and highlighted the "self-contained" chemistry between Kaif and Sethupathi. He praised the duo's performances and especially singled out Kaif for giving "a performance within a performance", in which she "nails the ambiguity of a mother disguised as a woman".[33]Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave 3.5 stars out of 5 and hailed the film as "a delightfully inventive cinematic ride that employs a very 1980s Hindi cinema soundscape and an evocative and transportive colour palette". He liked the contrast between Kaif and Sethupathi and opined that the former gave "one of most convincing screen performances of her career, portraying confusion and vulnerability cloaked in occasional flashes of steely determination".[1]Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave 3 stars out of 5 and felt that "Despite their unusual pairing, Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi manage to work together, as she once more demonstrates her acting prowess behind all the pancake and bump-and-grind.[34] Monika Rawal Kukreja of Hindustan Times said that "You won't jump out of this Vijay Sethupathi and Katrina Kaif film when it comes to any major surprise or the conclusion, but you will enjoy excellent cinematography clever writing and an interesting movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Even if you only see it once, Sriram Raghavan's cinematic universe is worth watching.[35]
Anuj Kumar of The Hindu called the movie "a sumptuous slice of crime" and said, "In this noirish story of a long night, Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi make a surprising duo that works well together. The story's crux is more interesting than the conclusion."[36]Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com gave 4 stars out of 5 and praised the performance and direction, she wrote "You'll be sighing in Merry Christmas as you've never sighed in a Sriram Raghavan film before thanks to its amazing climax."[37] Lachmi Deb Roy of Firstpost wrote in her review that "The movie is guaranteed to bring back fond memories for everyone who loves Bombay, particularly for those who adore the Regal theatre, Colaba's alleyways, and the ancient, architecturally stunning homes. The leisurely pacing of the film adds to its allure. Undoubtedly, a Merry Christmas is a unique experience."[38] Giving the film 4 stars, Devesh Sharma of Filmfare summarised it as "a dark comedy that will make you smile and scratch your head at the same time... a noir that showcases the triumph of human spirit and compassion". He further praised Sethupathi for delivering "another solid performance" and Kaif for showing "she can stand and deliver... in perhaps, her first full-fledged dramatic role".[39]
