DYK Saif Ali Khan was 'upset' when Sriram changed his mind about casting him in Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas, directed by Sriram Raghavan, stars Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi as the lead pair. However, the filmmaker had previously considered Saif Ali Khan for the lead role, but while working on the script, he realised that Saif wouldn't be the right fit. The director clarified his previous comments on the subject, which he claimed were misconstrued to imply that he had rejected Saif for the role.

What did Sriram say about casting Saif Ali Khan in Merry Christmas?

During an interview with Bollywood Hungama, Sriram Raghavan said, "Actually, I had this story for about three years. I met Katrina and she said lets do something. Then, after Andhadhun, I decided to go ahead with it. Initially, when I was looking at it, I was looking at a Hindi film, no Tamil version and all. I was thinking of Saif because I have worked with him in a couple of movies earlier. So, I thought it might be interesting. I met him and he liked the subject, he liked it very much."

The filmmaker further explained, "So, when I was fleshing it out, I felt that something wasn’t feeling right, something was bothering me. Then I met Ramesh ji (producer Ramesh Taurani) and I said what I felt, and he said, ‘Ok, let’s go and tell him’." The filmmaker admitted that Saif was not quite happy about the change of heart. "When you go and tell an actor who had initially said that he loved it and then tell him no… It’s not that I had anyone else in mind. I want to clarify that I didn’t reject him. I sort of went and met him and he was upset," said the director.

Sriram Raghavan says he always wanted to make a Tamil film

On January 4, the cast and crew of Merry Christmas came together for a press meet before the release of the movie. While interacting with the media the director Sriram Raghavan shared why he decided to make the film in two languages. As quoted by Bollywood Hungama the filmmaker revealed, "I am a Tamilian and it was always a dream to make a film in Tamil. I also wish to make a Marathi film, since I have lived in Mumbai for so long. This film gave me that opportunity. Because Vijay is an actor from down South, I felt that it would be interesting to try (making a Tamil version)."

The Hindi version co-stars Sanjay Kapoor, Vinay Pathak, Pratima Kannan, and Tinnu Anand, while the Tamil version has Radhika Sarathkumar, Shanmugaraja, Kevin Jay Babu, and Rajesh Williams in the same roles. The film also introduces Pari, a child actor.