If We Don’t Stand…: Karan Johar Irked With Katrina-Vijay’s Merry Christmas Clashing With Yodha

Merry Christmas Release Date: The highly-anticipated film Merry Christmas, directed by Sriram Raghavan, originally had a release date set for December 23. However, today (July 17), the makers made an announcement that the film, starring Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi, would now hit theaters on December 15.

Interestingly, this is the same day when Sidharth Malhotra's film Yodha is also scheduled for release.

KARAN JOHAR UNHAPPY WITH MERRY CHRISTMAS VS YODHA

Shortly after the release date clash was revealed, director-producer Karan Johar took to Instagram Threads to indirectly express his disappointment, criticizing the decision of Merry Christmas to choose the same release date as his film, Yodha.

Karan Johar posted, "Clashing on a date without the courtesy of a phone call is hopefully not the way forward for the studios and producers.... If we don't stand united in these tough and challenging theatrical days then calling us a fraternity is futile....(sic)"

Take a look at KJo's post here:

ALL ABOUT YODHA AND MERRY CHRISTMAS

Yodha, directed by debutants Sagar Ambre and Pushkar Ojha, is a joint production of Karan Johar's Dharma Productions and Shashank Khaitan's Mentor Disciple Films. Initially slated for release in November of the previous year, the film faced several reschedules and was eventually set for July 7, 2023, before being postponed once again to December 15.

Yodha, an action-packed film, features Sidharth Malhotra, Disha Patani, and Raashii Khanna in lead roles. Karan Johar had announced the film as his "first action franchise" in 2021, accompanied by a motion poster.

Sidharth Malhotra, who made his silver screen debut in Karan Johar's directorial Student of the Year, has previously collaborated with Dharma Productions on films like Hasee Toh Phasee (2014) and Kapoor and Sons (2016). In 2021, Karan co-produced Sidharth's war drama Shershaah.

The recently unveiled posters of Merry Christmas exude a vintage vibe, featuring both Katrina and Vijay in a slightly serious mood. The posters depict a taxi and a quote that reads, "Raat jitni saangeen hogi, subaha utni rangeen hogi (The darker the night, the brighter the morning)".

The film's Hindi version also stars Sanjay Kapoor, Vinay Pathak, Pratima Kannan, and Tinnu Anand, while the Tamil version includes Radhika Sarathkumar, Shanmugaraja, Kevin Jay Babu, and Rajesh Williams in similar roles. Ashwini Kalsekar and Radhika Apte are set to make cameo appearances in the film.