Tere Ishk Mein (2025) Review!!

Synopsis – Shankar and Mukti’s intense love story unfolds against exploring surrender and transformation through an all-consuming romance that heals, hurts, and changes them.

My Take – Back in 2013, filmmaker Aanand L. Rai introduced the world to Kundan, played by Dhanush, a reckless, passionate, and unapologetic lover, willing to go to any lengths to win over his love. But while, his desire remained unfulfilled in the end, he won over the audience, and backed by A.R. Rahman‘s melodious tunes, Raanjhanaa turned out to be a critical and commercial success.

And now 12 years later, director Rai, composer A.R. Rahman and writer Himanshu Sharma (this time sharing credit with Neeraj Yadav) have paired up once again to deliver yet another tale of raw emotions, heartbreak and unfulfilled love, with Dhanush once again appearing as a heart-broken lover.

Described as a spiritual follow up to Raanjhanaa, the film tries to stay faithful to the world previously established, though it takes a step further by delving into complex elements of toxic love, obsession, the inability to cope with rejection and the quiet seduction of self-destruction. And while the script is anchored by powerful performances, the resulting romantic tragedy is messy and unique in equal measure.

Sure, the film moves with a restless and very engaging heartbeat, tossing its lovers between passion and ruin. The narrative doesn’t slow down for a second and the callbacks to ‘Raanjhanaa’ are exciting, but the overall mix feels more like a mishmash than a cohesive story. For those willing to accept cinematic liberties for the sake of emotion, this film will be satisfying. But if one goes in expecting the kind of gritty realism and tight writing that made the earlier team-up such a cult classic, this one will seem uneven.

The story initially begins in Ladakh and follows Flight lieutenant Shankar Gurukkal (Dhanush), an irascible and overconfident fighter pilot averse to taking orders, who following is latest unauthorized sortie, finds himself not just grounded for insubordination, but sent to counseling to find a solution to his temper issues. Issues which begin to boil over when he is assigned to Mukti Behniwaal (Kriti Sanon), a drunk and heavily pregnant senior Indian Defence counselor, who herself is in no position to handle her job.

Heading back seven years to Delhi, at a time when a calm and brilliant Mukti was doing her PhD at Delhi University in psychology. To prove her thesis that any violent person can be transformed, she zeroes in on Shankar, a hot-headed young man who serves as the President of the Delhi University Students’ Union. But while, under Mukti’s influence, Shankar begins to change and fall in love, Mukti has her own ambitions and a different future imagined for herself. Not recognizing the storm that is brewing beyond her books and labs, that is until it threatens to sweep her away.

Running for 169 minutes, the narrative maintains a good grip throughout. It is both simple and complicated at the same time, a contradiction that feels deliciously frustrating. You find yourself pulled into its intense love story, then abruptly distanced, then drawn back in as the film becomes a paradox that refuses to settle.

The first half carefully constructs the romance with warmth and charm, but the second half is incoherent. On paper, the idea of an incomplete love story ending amidst a war-zone makes for an interesting premise. But while certain sequences hit hard, the film struggles with consistency, and the character arcs and the transitions are abrupt. For instance, Shankar’s journey from studying law, to leaving that, then giving UPSC exams, to now flying warplanes seems too much to digest at once.

Similarly, Mukti, a counselor by profession and someone counseling others, losing her own emotional stability feels off. And then comes the final act which feels stretched and bloated. The film stumbles significantly in its final stretch. Questions that should feel revelatory instead feel hurried. Emotional beats that should devastate arrive without the clarity they need. The last few seconds clearly aim to shatter the viewer but the impact softens because the writing in the preceding moments is not robust enough to support it. The film is still powerful but it is not as cohesive as it believes it to be.

But even when the narrative falters, A.R. Rahman’s music soars. His score, like always, takes time to grow on you, but somewhere in between, it envelops you, with the signature motif making hearts go quiver in tense sequences.

Performance wise, Dhanush delivers a soul-baring turn as the passionate, heart-broken lover and duty-bound son striving to fulfill his father’s last wishes. Such is the power of his turn that even if you disagree with Shankar’s worldview, he tears down our emotional-intellectual scaffolding to make a space for himself in our hearts and minds. Kriti Sanon not only looks good but takes a meaningful step forward with her turn. She steps into the role of Mukti with a vulnerability that feels both dangerous and human. She looks radiant but more importantly she acts with a clarity that shows how deeply she understands the character’s fractured psyche.

In supporting roles, Prakash Raj and Tota Roy Choudhury do justice to their roles, while Priyanshu Painyuli and Paramveer Singh Cheema are saddled with characters that lacks depth and development. In a smaller roles, Vineet Kumar Singh is memorable, while Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub, reprising his character from Raanjhanaa, is magnificent. On the whole, ‘Tere Ishk Mein’ is an uneven yet engaging love affair anchored by its intense lead performances.