EXCLUSIVE | Sriram Raghavan on directing Katrina Kaif in 'Merry Christmas': 'I didn't do too much except for...'

Sriram Raghavan’s stories are twisted and treated with utmost care and deliciousness. The other word that could be used is juicy. And yes, the characters are complex and charming, and the climax dazzles and is always debatable. His new film Merry Christmas is designed and described as a love story wrapped inside a whodunnit, where two lonely people meet and form a bond that unravels a lot of secrets and motivations.

The filmmaker has paid homage to Shakti Samantha, but also added a tinge of Pinocchio and Devotion of Suspect X, and of course, his own imagination and idiosyncrasies. In an exclusive interview with Firstpost, he sat for a chat about the these two lonely people called Albert (Vijay Sethupathi) and Maria (Katrina Kaif), why this man does what he does in the climax, and fascination for repeating the moment with far more gratifying results.

Edited excerpts from the interview (Spoilers ahead)

In your films, we have to visit a moment twice, you first show us what happened and then how and why it happened. What fascinates you to do that?

I don’t know exactly how you’re saying it but yes it also happened in the case of Andhadhun. Like I have seen so many movies again and again because I just enjoy watching them, for instance Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. Whenever I have time or I’m doing nothing, I just start watching that film. Certain films, especially thrillers, you have to go back and see. Did I miss this? Was this also there? For example, in Merry Christmas all the clues are there you just have to figure out. And since there are only two characters in the film, if you were able to figure out that at least one of them is up to something you are 50%, right. I kind of enjoy playing the game with the viewers and they too try to guess and make their own stories, and you try to subvert that.

The movies that you refer to in your films also become a part of the story. Even though Merry Christmas is a homage to Shakti Samantha, Pinocchio is the reference that comes closest to mixing with the narrative. Your thoughts.

Pinocchio is definitely chosen, not that we went to some cinema hall where Pinocchio was playing or anything like that. But yes, this is the one because it’s about deception and I recently saw the latest animated version which was too good. Thematically, Pinocchio comes closest to our story but of course, no noses get longer but the teddy bear that Katrina Kaif has, the size of that grows larger as the film progresses.

There’s a bit in the film when Albert and Maria are watching Pinocchio in a cinema hall and there are a couple of ads and signs before the film begins, and one of them reads ‘Don’t forget your longings inside the cinemas.’ The word is belongings but you’ve blurred B and E; was it a way for you to establish these characters’ loneliness?

Sort of and I’m glad you noticed that because most people don’t even see that. Many years back, I was sitting in some hall in Pune at a single screen and I saw this ad that said ‘Please check your longings’ and I thought what a wonderful thing to say, and I remember it from that time and got a chance to do it here.

What’s the idea behind choosing those actors for your thrillers that have never attempted the genre before? Be it Saif Ali Khan or Ayushmann Khurrana or Varun Dhawan or now Katrina Kaif?

If I see the potential that this particular actor is going to suit a particular character, it is the best thing because they are also getting the opportunity to do something out of their comfort zone. They are going to do their best, and they are also very hungry to do something different, as long as it’s mainstream and they believe I’m not making some weird stuff. With Vijay Sethupathi, he was doing so many action films but he’s a versatile actor. Here, I won’t call him the hero but he’s the main character of the film, the main lead.

This is Katrina Kaif’s best performance in the last 20 years of her career. How did you make her approach the character of Maria?

I didn’t do too much except for narrating the story to her after which, she really worked on the character, on her backstory. Whatever rehearsals we did were on the sets; I told her it was her house so she could guide us around. In a way, I was lucky because both my actors, when they entered, they had become the characters.

Is Merry Christmas your first film where there’s no evil character?

Evil is a strong word. I may commit a sin but I may not be evil, I may commit it out of circumstances. These two characters are not evil for sure, but they are complex characters and broken in some manner, and disillusioned, and still have hope, hope is something they find in each other. It’s a love story disguised like a thriller.

What I also like about the film is that both Albert and Maria are lonely, and they are the ones who have killed their partners.

That’s a bit of a spoiler. But initially when you see the film, you ask if she’s the one after him, or he’s the one after her. Albert is just a lonely character who is going after Maria after her date ditches her. He’s a decent guy, whereas the other guy who comes, Sanjay Kapoor, he’s vivacious and the typical character that thinks it can score tonight.

Talk to me about the final scene in the film. Why Albert did what he did?

He’s a man who has committed a crime and legally paid his dues too. From inside, the guilt has not gone. He says sometimes violence is better than sacrifice, but sacrifice sometimes is better than violence. I won’t be able to analyze it too much and it shouldn’t be, you should be able to feel it. But largely it’s all about redeeming himself, it’s Christmas Day and it’s all about redemption and sacrifice so the end is apt.