Film clashes have always seemed to be an exciting phenomenon in the pop culture of any nation. An example of this was the recent ‘Barbenheimer’ event which was the clash of two movies in Hollywood- ‘Barbie’ and Oppenheimer’. A similar thing is now happening in Bollywood as well with the SRK starrer ‘Dunki’ and Prabhas’s movie ‘Salaar’. Both movies are going to be released on Christmas in 2023 and are expected to give each other tough competition. What is even more exciting is that Shah Rukh Khan has had back-to-back successes with ‘Pathaan’ and ‘Jawan’ while Prabhas is still yet to recover from his failure with ‘Adipurush’ which makes this clash even tenser for both the stars to get public acclaim. However, a movie that seems to be affected by this is ‘Merry Christmas’. This movie starring Vijay Sethupati and Katrina Kaif was supposed to be released on Christmas this year only to get its release date advanced because of the ‘Dunki’ vs. ‘Salaar’ clash. Now the makers of this movie are thinking as to how this will affect the movie’s success. It has become worrisome for the producers of this film.

The Christmas May Not Be So Merry for ‘Merry Christmas’

Though I am not referring to some apocalyptic event that would take place on the day of Christmas, I am talking about the movie named ‘Merry Christmas’ that was supposed to be released on Christmas this year. I was very excited to see this movie as it stars none other than Vijay Sethupati who is already known by many for his outstanding performance as the scheming villains ‘Kali Gaikwad’ in ‘Jawan’ and ‘Vedha’ in ‘Vikram Vedha’. Now I have not seen any teaser for this movie yet but I guess that it is going to be a thriller with a plot that will be set in the time of Christmas. However, I have been wondering when this movie will be released ever since its announcement way back in 2021. Quite funnily though, sometimes I wonder if there is some sort of curse associated with it since all dates related to the film keep getting postponed for one reason or another.

And now, in another turn of events recently, I got to know that the movie’s release date has been brought forward by a week because of the clash between ‘Dunki’ and ‘Salaar’ which is set to happen on Christmas. However, for the producers, that is not the main thing to worry about. Now the movie’s makers have to release the film much earlier as well as the trailer too. Such an instance generally does not help to build hype and excitement among the audience regarding any movie. Another problem that might affect this movie’s success is the massive influence of Shah Rukh Khan and Prabhas as well as the marketing of both of their movies. Both ‘Salaar’ and ‘Dunki’ have received a lot of attention from the common public because of their exciting teasers, especially, ‘Salaar’ which might revive Prabhas’s career after ‘Adipurush’.

On the other hand, I was surprised to know that most people did not even know about the release of ‘Merry Christmas’ or even the movie itself. The marketing efforts for this movie have not been as satisfactory as they should have been keeping in mind the huge stardom that the actor Vijay Sethupathi garners in both the Tamil and the Hindi-speaking regions of India. Even though the movie will probably be released one week before ‘Dunki’ and ‘Salaar’ it will still have to face stiff competition for being amidst the clash between the two big films. Moreover, Siddarth Malhotra’s ‘Yoddha’ is also set to hit the theatres soon which too has the potential to enhance the competition that is to be faced by ‘Merry Christmas’. Thus, there is no doubt that the makers of the movie, ‘Merry Christmas’ have advanced the movie’s release date as it has been getting postponed ever since 2022. However, I do not know whether it has been a wise gesture on the part of the makers of the movie or not.

Hopes and Only Hopes for ‘Merry Christmas’?

Even though the movie’s release date has changed again, that does not necessarily mean that it will be unsuccessful. Vijay Sethupati is already famous throughout India for his versatile acting skills and he could end up making the movie a hit alongside Katrina Kaif because of their performances. However, it is also true that Vijay Sethupati is still not as famous as Shah Rukh Khan or Prabhas. So, it could be that the public would end up preferring ‘Dunki’ and ‘Salaar’ over ‘Merry Christmas’. However, one must not forget that even Vijay Sethupati has a track record of making movies that do have much expectation to turn into massive hits as has been seen in the case of ‘Vikram Vedha’. Thus, we as the fans of Vijay Sethupathi, wait impatiently with our fingers in between our teeth to see whether he will be able to work out his charm this time to make this Christmas merry for him or not; however, only time will be the best judge.