WILL MERRY CHRISTMAS BE 2024’S FIRST HIT?
The first major film of 2024, Merry Christmas, is all set to release tomorrow. It stars Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi in the lead and is directed by Sriram Raghavan. The filmmaker has gone on a high with the success of Andhadhun. That film was a sleeper hit, collecting Rs. 73.37 crores. Hence, there are hopes from Merry Christmas that it can also surprise.
Merry Christmas is a bi-lingual film and also has a Tamil version. Interestingly, the supporting actors in both versions are different and the Tamil version is also slightly different than the Hindi one. The trailer is intriguing and thankfully, doesn’t give much about the film’s plot or its suspense. At the same time, the excitement for the film is limited. The songs haven’t worked. A few weeks earlier, it seemed like Merry Christmas would open at Rs. 4-5 crores.
Now, it seems like the thriller will have an opening of Rs. 2.50-3 crores. This shouldn’t be a problem because Andhadhun also opened at Rs. 2.45 crores and then collections jumped to Rs. 5 crores on Saturday as the positive word spread. Its Monday earnings were more than that of Friday. Merry Christmas can also similarly see a jump and can sustain even after Fighter’s release. However, if the film gets thumbs down, it’ll struggle.
The other major release is Hanuman, a Telugu film which has been dubbed in Hindi. The teaser was released several months back and caught attention. But the film hasn’t been able to make any noise in Hindi. It has got a wide release but the ticket sales are hardly there. It seems like it'll be another South dubbed film that will bite the dust.
