'Merry Christmas' is a special film: Katrina Kaif

Mumbai: Katrina Kaif said that ‘Merry Christmas’ turned out to be a special film as it gave her a chance to work with ace filmmaker Sriram Raghavan and also step out of her comfort zone. Working with Raghavan, the director of critical hits ‘Ek Hasina Thi’, ‘Johnny Gaddar’, ‘Badlapur’ and ‘Andhadhun’, was always on Kaif’s ‘bucket list’, the actor said at a press conference here.

“For me, working with Sriram Raghavan was always on my bucket list and he’s been one of my favourite directors. When I heard the story, I was in awe that I was going to get to work with him in a story like this which was so incredible. Also, it was right for me. That’s why sir and I came together for this film. He must have also seen that in the character,” the 40-year-old actor said.

Also starring Vijay Sethupathi, ‘Merry Christmas’ is set over the course of one night and follows the story of two strangers. Kaif said she started the project with an ‘open mind’ as she knew that the movie would turn out to be a different experience for her as a creative person.

“It’s a different language and has a different pace and rhythm. For me to enter this world that is Sriram Raghavan’s world, what I need to do is have an open mind,” she said.

The ‘Tiger 3’ star revealed that Raghavan gave her a narration of the story and then told her to build a backstory for her character Mariya.

“He asked me to write Mariya’s back story, like where she was, what drove her to become the way she is and what had happened in her life. So, that whole process was extremely helpful. We worked really hard before coming on set. I did a lot of workshops with a few different people. Sriram sir has a workshop with us as well. So, I enjoyed this kind of process. It’s not all the time that you get to rehearse the scenes with your co-actor and be able to do that over a few days. So, for me, this was a really fulfilling experience,” she added.

Kaif was also excited to collaborate with Sethupathi. “The minute Vijay sir started speaking about a scene, it was fascinating for me. I just thought that this is the person who views things in such a unique way,” she said.

‘Merry Christmas’ is set to be released in theatres on January 12.