Director Sriram Raghavan disclosed that he sought a fresh pair for his upcoming movie ‘Merry Christmas’, and had to deny Saif Ali Khan for Vijay Sethupathi’s role opposite Katrina Kaif.

The unusual paring of Kartina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi for their upcoming movie, Merry Christmas’ is the talk of town. In a recent interview, director Sririam Raghavan affirmed the fact that there was another actor in the race for Vijay Sethupathi’s character in the movie. The actor was none other than Saif Ali Khan. Sriram and Saif have worked together in movies like Ek Hasina Thi (2004) and Agent Vinod (2012).

“I wanted a very unique kind of pairing because that’s the story’s requirement. One should not get any baggage from either of them. So I had met another actor who had liked the role also, but then I told him  sorry, Sriram said.

How did Vijay Sethupathi join the cast?

Katrina Kaif, sitting right beside Sriram during the interview, interrupted him and asked she would really love to know the identity of actor. To this, Sriram reveals, “Yes, I can tell you. It was Saif Ali Khan! So I had met up, and he was actually a little upset when I told him no. That time, I had not cast Vijay. I was just saying no because I wanted something fresh; I don’t know what I am looking for.”

Sriram then continued that it was during his Melbourne trip for a film festival that he encountered Vijay Sethupathi after seeing 96 and questioned whether he could speak in Hindi. Vijay affirmed, and that led to the ‘interesting and odd-ball’ combination of actors in the film.