Why Teja Sajja's Hanu Man performed better than Vijay Sethupathi-Katrina Kaif's Merry Christmas at the box office?

Last week, we saw multiple releases across the country as all of them wanted to cash on the festive season of Sankranthi and Pongal. Talking about Bollywood, Vijay Sethupathi and Katrina Kaif starrer Merry Christmas arrived at the box office, which was simultaneously shot in Tamil as well.

Both films garnered positive reviews from fans and experts. While Vivek Agnihotri, Ram Pothineni, Rishab Shetty, Samantha Ruth Prabhu and others praised Hanu Man, Ayushmann Khurrana, Atlee and Vicky Kaushal lauded Merry Christmas. However, director Prashanth Varma’s pan-India movie featuring Teja Sajja turned out to be a huge surprise with its Hindi version in the northern part of the country. While the Sriram Raghavan directorial earned Rs 12.68 crore in its first five days, Hanu Man raked in Rs 18.77 crore in its Hindi version. In fact, the mythological superhero film has entered the Rs 100 crore club at the global box office.

Let’s decode why the audiences preferred Hanu Man over Merry Christmas…

Family-friendly genre

Hanu Man belongs to a family-friendly genre, where a kid from a 5-year-old to an 80-year-old grandparent can enjoy the film as it has a mythological element combined with a superhero theme, which makes it a perfect family entertainer. On the other hand, Merry Christmas is a whodunit thriller, which primarily caters to elite multiplex audiences of metro cities and above the age of around 15 years.

Thrilled with the success of #HanuMAN! Kudos @PrasanthVarma @tejasajja123, the stellar crew & VFX team. Also, big thanks for your valuable contribution to Indic Cinema.

A moment of glory for the Indic Renaissance, a movement we initiated in 2010 with #BuddhaInATrafficJam, which… pic.twitter.com/g4FhCcpq6L

— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) January 15, 2024

Lord Hanuman is known for Doing the Unthinkable & the film #Hanuman has followed suit.. Hastoff to your vision , belief & conviction @PrasanthVarma

Kudos to your passion for cinema sir @Niran_Reddy

Great job & selection of films buddy @tejasajja123

Congratulations… pic.twitter.com/cJkhretJvz

— RAm POthineni (@ramsayz) January 16, 2024

Joining the chorus of praise for ‘Hanuman’ – a triumph in storytelling and filmmaking by Prashant Verma. Teja Sejja performance stays with you long after the credits roll. #Hanuman@PrasanthVarma @tejasajja123

— Rishab Shetty (@shetty_rishab) January 16, 2024

Larger-than-life spectacle

Hanu Man is meant for a theatrical experience, which gives this venture an upper hand over Merry Christmas, which is comparatively dependent on its content. The impeccable VFX and superhit formula of good vs evil helped Hanu Man in getting a repeat audience. The imbibement of traditional Indian values in the film has also hugely helped the pan-India movie.

Hanu Man also features Amritha Aiyer, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Raj Deepak Shetty and Vinay Rai in prominent roles.