In 2025, if this is the idea of love we are promoting, then I am seriously scared! This week, I saw two very opposite perspectives on love. In one, love meant Mohabbat and genuine care for the lover even if it was not reciprocated, and in another, love was all about extreme toxicity and violence. Yeah, we could argue that the timelines are different, but does the meaning of one-sided love change with time? After watching Tere Ishk Mein, I walked out of the theatre with no feelings of love or pity for the story I witnessed, but absolute rage! What Kriti Sanon and Dhanush’s film, directed by Aanand L Rai, could use was a logical and sane script instead of unnecessary complexities about one-sided love, which made no sense to me or the women sitting next to me. Let’s break that for you.
Shankar (Dhanush) has extreme anger issues, and has a violent nature. He beats up people without thinking twice, lights his cigarettes with everything except a lighter, basically is not civil at all. Think of an annoying, irritating boy who just keeps justifying his acts, but no wait Shankar does have a dark past which is not paid much attention to by the writers.
Anyway moving on, Shankar becomes a case study for Kriti Sanon’s Mukti, a research student doing a thesis on violent individuals. Despite all the clarity that the girl is around the guy for work purposes only, Shankar still falls deeply and madly in love with Mukti. He is ready to go to any extent to win her over, and it ranges from clearing UPSC exams to burning down the whole of Delhi. However, he is only met with heartbreaks, and the peak comes when Mukti decides to marry someone else. The violent and toxicity level increases, complexities without contexts becomes the basic premise of the film. There is also a Ranjhaanaa callback.
Writing!
There are so many problems in Tere Ishk Mein that it’s hard to process and bring it all together. Talking about the story, firstly, there is nothing new in the film that we were not expecting from the trailer itself. I have a lot of issues with the writing. Let’s keep aside Shankar for now, was not hoping for anything less, but what happened with Mukti’s character arc left me baffled. The girl who treated this angry man as a case study only, and by second half is also engaged to a rather sane man, suddenly becomes so self-destructive in love? Make it make sense! And no, the justification was not convincing either. Also, Mukti’s career choice as a counsellor is very questionable! Well, talking about case study, Mukti had one at her home itself: her father. Again the confrontation between Mukti’s dad and Shankar after the latter comes with a marriage proposal is too dramatic.
Secondly, some scenes on classism with Mukti’s dad asking Shankar’s father (Prakash Raj) to apologise to all the workers by touching their feet was quite unrealistic. BTW, Mukti’s dad is an IAS. Not just that, the scene about how one-sided lovers are meant to “die” and not seek “Mukti” (Liberation) is hard to watch!
Dialogues
The dialogues in Tere Ishk Mein are cringe and pathetic. There are a number of moments in the film that are ruined by the dialogues if not the plot, of course.
Characters, Performances
Dhanush’s Shankar is a very problematic character, and one, that we definitely don’t need. However, the actor as always is convincing in every scene. One of the scenes that really got me for a second was a tragic incident involving him and his dad (Prakash Raj). The rage, the pain, the cold-hearted expressions, and everything in between, Dhanush is phenomenal.
I have tons of complaints from Mukti but not one from Kriti Sanon. She is remarkable in the film. The actor comes across as a nuanced performer in this film, especially when the intensity of it increases. She owns the screen and how!
Prakash Raj is natural. The only character in the film who evoked some emotion and sympathy in me.
Also Read: What To Watch From November 24 To November 30: Tere Ishk Mein, Gustaakh Ishq, Zootopia 2, And More!
The music by AR Rahman is also note-worthy, however, due to the bad script, the songs don’t come out well during the film. Listen to them after you finish watching Tere Ishk Mein.
Verdict
Tere Ishk Mein starring Dhanush and Kriti Sanon does nothing right. And the performances fail to save this sinking ship. The story, the characters, the overall writing basically lacks logic and clarity. The unrealistic nature of the plot and conflicts are hard to digest. “What is happening?”-I found myself repeating this line way too many times in the film. Tere Ishk Mein hits theatres on November 28!