A Love Story Built Around Anger

Tere Ishk Mein opens with a question that most romances avoid. What happens when love does not make people better, but makes them more dangerous to each other? Director Aanand L. Rai, working from a screenplay by Himanshu Sharma and Neeraj Yadav, builds the film around Shankar, played by Dhanush, and Mukti, played by Kriti Sanon. Shankar starts as a volatile student leader, a young man whose anger gives him power on campus and trouble everywhere else. Mukti starts as a psychology student researching anger and human behaviour, a woman who thinks she can study Shankar without being pulled into his orbit. She cannot. Their story moves from college in Delhi to Leh, from youth to adulthood, and from attraction to a bond that looks a lot like obsession.


The film is billed as a spiritual sequel to Raanjhanaa, the 2013 film that also paired Rai with Dhanush. That label matters, because Raanjhanaa also told a story about love that refused to be reasonable. Tere Ishk Mein goes further. Shankar becomes an Indian Air Force officer, a Flight Lieutenant, and Mukti becomes a counsellor. Years later, when Shankar is sent for psychological help, Mukti is flown in to treat him, pregnant and professional, and forced to face the man she once studied and loved. That reunion is the film's core. It asks whether two people can ever be neutral about each other after a past like theirs, and it answers, mostly, no. A. R. Rahman composes the music, with lyrics by Irshad Kamil, and the songs carry much of the film's emotional weight.

Performances That Carry A Heavy Film

Critics were mixed on Tere Ishk Mein, but they mostly agreed on one thing. The lead performances carry the film. Dhanush plays Shankar with a mix of charm, menace, and vulnerability that makes the character hard to dismiss, even when his actions are hard to defend. Kriti Sanon, as Mukti, gives what many reviews called her strongest impact in the film, confident, restrained, and emotionally convincing in scenes where she must hold her ground against a man who once overwhelmed her. Prakash Raj plays Shankar's father, Raghav Gurukkal, Tota Roy Chowdhury plays Mukti's father, and Priyanshu Painyuli, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, and others fill out a strong supporting cast. The film runs 169 minutes, and that length lets Rai linger on faces, silences, and songs, but it also lets the story repeat itself. Several reviews said the film stumbles in its telling, even as its emotional honesty keeps it standing.


That split is worth noting for viewers. If you like intense, melodramatic romance, Tere Ishk Mein will give you plenty to feel. If you want a tight, clean story, you may find the second half heavy. The film does not shy away from toxic patterns. It shows emotional dependency, ego clashes, manipulation, and the wounds left by unresolved relationships, and it does not always condemn Shankar as clearly as some viewers wanted. That ambiguity is part of Rai's point, but it also made the film divisive. Some viewers saw a brave portrait of flawed people. Others saw a romance that romanticised behaviour it should have questioned. Both readings are present in the film, and that is why it kept being discussed after its release.

From Cinemas To Netflix, And To Awards

Tere Ishk Mein reached cinemas on November 28, 2025, in Hindi and Tamil, and was also screened at the International Film Festival of India in Goa on the same date. It emerged as a commercial success, with reported worldwide totals varying by source. Wikipedia's summary puts the total at about Rs 148.5 crore, while other trade reporting cited Rs 161.96 crore worldwide and Rs 116.71 crore net in India. Those differences show why you should treat box office totals as estimates, not as exact accounts. The film's budget was also reported at about Rs 85 crore to Rs 95 crore, depending on the source. What is clearer is that the film found its audience, even with mixed reviews, and that its music helped it stay in conversation.
The film then moved to Netflix on January 23, 2026, in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu, with other dubbed versions also reported. That streaming release gave it a second audience, one that could pause, rewatch, and argue about Shankar and Mukti at home. Awards followed. Kriti Sanon won Best Actress at the Zee Cine Awards 2026 for her role as Mukti, a win that many fans celebrated online as recognition for a performance that had carried a difficult film. That award does not settle the debate about the film, but it does show how the industry read it. It saw Kriti's work as the film's centre, even when the story around her divided critics.

Should You Watch It Now

If you watch Tere Ishk Mein now, go in knowing what it is. It is not a light romance. It is a long, intense drama about two people who hurt each other and cannot quite let go. Watch Dhanush for the way he shifts from student fire to adult damage, and watch Kriti for the way she refuses to play Mukti as only a victim or only a saviour. Watch the Leh sequences for their stark beauty, and listen to Rahman's score for the moments when words fail the characters. You may leave admiring the performances and questioning the story, and that mixed feeling is exactly how most critics left it too. Tere Ishk Mein is a film that wants you to feel first and judge second, and it mostly succeeds at the first part, even when the second part gets messy.

Sources and reporting

  1. Wikipedia — 2025-11-28 · Verifies director, cast, November 28 2025 release, Rahman music, and mixed reviews
  2. Filmfare — 2025-11-28 · Verifies cast, 169 minute runtime, Leh opening, and 3 star review tone
  3. Zee News — 2026-03-01 · Verifies Kriti Sanon Zee Cine Best Actress win and January 23 2026 Netflix premiere