Tere Ishk Mein Review: Half-baked musical love saga backed by few moments and strong performances by Dhanush and Kriti Sanon
Tere Ishk Mein Movie Rating: 3 Stars
Watched Tere Ishk Mein movie in Cinema. Let’s focus on the complete details, story, positive/negatives and at last my view on this movie.
Cast: Dhanush, Kriti Sanon, Prakash Raj, Priyanshu Painyuli, Tota Roy Chowdhury, Paramvir Singh Cheema, Chittaranjan Tripathy, Jaya Bhattacharya, Vineet Kumar Singh and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub
Director: Aanand L Rai
Release Date: 28th November 2025 in cinemas
Story: Movie revolves around Shankar Gurukkal (Dhanush) who is the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) president and known for his violent and domineering nature. Mukti (Kriti Sanon) studies in the same college and wants to do her PhD in how violent behavior can be transformed by counselling and therapy. Her professors aren’t convinced about her topic.
To prove her point, she takes the example of Shankar who is brooding angry man and only understands the language of violence. While interacting with him, Mukti realizes why Shankar is so violent. She sees a huge potential in him and is keen to convert his negative sentiments into positive energy so that he can do something worthwhile in life.
Since Shankar hails from a lower middle-class family, he seems to be leading a directionless life, always getting into problems with law. Mukti realizes that he can improve his standard and do something worthwhile in life if given a direction. While being reformed, Shankar develops a great fondness for Mukti and starts loving her crazily. His love for her is so overpowering that this is something she hadn’t bargained for. But Mukti is not the one to give up merely because Shankar loves her. She feels, he will get over his love for her when he succeeds in life.
Therefore, even now, Mukti wants Shankar to rise in life. In fact, she thinks, she owes it to him to make him realize his true potential and to channelize his energy into the right direction. Shankar does rise, but even after that, he is unable to get over his mad love for Mukti. Meanwhile, Mukti has found a friend whom she desires to marry. Shankar becomes violent again when he sees that Mukti is all set to marry Jassi (Paramvir Cheema) who is a senior navy officer. What happens thereafter?
Does Shankar succeed in marrying Mukti? Or does Mukti marry Jassi? If Mukti marries Shankar, do they live happily ever after? If Mukti gets married to Jassi, does she live happily ever after with him? And what happens to Shankar? Does he return to his violent ways? Does he get a purpose in life? Do the paths of Shankar and Mukti ever cross again? Do they meet afterwards?
Positives
1. Performances
2. Cinematography
3. Climax
4. Dialogues
Negatives
1. Length
2. Direction
3. Story
4. Screenplay in 2nd half
5. Music
Durgesh Tiwary’s View: When I watched the trailer of this film planned to watch this movie in cinemas on release date as liked the trailer and loved the duo last film Raanjhanaa. Shankar is an “outstanding, outrageous, and out of hand” flight lieutenant facing disciplinary action, whose mental state must be assessed and cleared by a counsellor before he can fly during an ongoing war. The psychologist assigned to him is Mukti, with whom he shares a complicated past marked by intense love, what derailed it, and how meeting again shapes what comes next.
Tere Ishk Mein is a love story with many layers. It is a complex and, in a way, a twisted love story which keeps the viewers engaged and involved. There are plenty of turns and twists in the story because of which the audience keep guessing what’s next in store for them. There are some excellent scenes in the screenplay. The scene in which Shankar threatens Mukti’s friend, Abeer shocks the viewers. The scene in which Shankar reaches the haldi ceremoy of Mukti is chilling. The scene showing Shankar’s father groveling in front of Mukti’s father shakes the audience. The best part of the drama is that the audience are unable to decide who is right and who is wrong between Shankar and Mukti, because both have their reasons for doing what they are doing. Dhanush delivers an extraordinary performance as Shankar. In the scenes of violence, he is like a beast possessed. In the soft scenes, he is very endearing. Kriti Sanon is first-rate as Mukti. She has performed a very difficult role with the ease of a seasoned actor. Aanand L Rai’s direction is engaging in first half but lost the plot completely in the second half.
Things are very easy in Aanand L Rai’s world. A local goon who doesn’t know the full form of UPSC in one scene can clear the prelims in the next. A man who is in and out of jail for creating a ruckus on campus can become one of the bravest officers of the Indian Air Force. A raging alcoholic, who is popping anxiety pills by the hour, is a counsellor for the defence forces (god save our soldiers from such counsellors) and given the task to counsel a problematic officer at the Indo-China border, while she is herself 9 months pregnant. Call it easy or indulgence, movie has plenty of such obscure stuff decorating a very problematic story. The film celebrates toxicity like a festival and glorifies pain and suffering in the name of love. The plot also becomes confusing, especially in the present-day episode. The film also gets too stretched during the finale, though intended to be impactful, it doesn’t pack a punch. At a little under three hours, the movie feels overlong, and the pacing remains uneven across many portions. The storyline’s tone also swings sharply between romance, melodrama, and emotional violence, creating an imbalance that can be overwhelming. The film’s depiction of obsessive and toxic love is somewhat exaggerated, which overshadows the sincerity the plot aims to portray.
Overall, movie is an intense love saga, backed by memorable dramatic moments and strong performances by Dhanush and Kriti Sanon. But the overlong runtime and a weak second half severely curb its impact. The film may appeal to those who enjoy emotionally charged love dramas. For others, the runtime and narrative may take away from what could have been a more compelling experience. For those who enter the theatre with high expectations, the storyline might or might not work, but the performances definitely work in the film’s favor. The extra half point is solely for the actors. My view on this film Time Pass.
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