Tere Ishk Mein

Tere Ishk Mein (which means In Your Love) is a 2025 Indian Hindi-language musical romantic drama that has drawn attention for its intense take on love, loss, and sacrifice. Directed by Aanand L. Rai, it works as a standalone spin-off to the 2013 cult favourite Raanjhanaa. Rai teams up once again with Dhanush after their earlier work on Raanjhanaa and Atrangi Re. This time, Dhanush is paired with Kriti Sanon, and their fresh on-screen chemistry is getting a lot of praise.

Key Details

Plot Summary (Spoiler-Free)

Shankar Gurukkal (Dhanush), a hot-headed Delhi University Students’ Union president with a violent streak, embodies the alpha-male archetype Bollywood adores—and critiques. His life is upends when he meets Mukti Behniwal (Kriti Sanon), a poised psychology student pitching a thesis on reforming aggressive men through empathy and love.

What starts as a college flirtation spirals into an all-consuming romance, set against Benaras’ mystical backdrop, where Shankar’s rage softens under Mukti’s influence. Flashbacks reveal Shankar’s evolution from a rebellious youth to an Indian Air Force officer, haunted by personal loss.

But Rai doesn’t settle for saccharine. As societal pressures mount—Mukti’s arranged marriage, Shankar’s unresolved anger—their bond fractures. A mid-film twist catapults Shankar into a border skirmish with Pakistan, blending romance with jingoistic action, echoing Fighter’s adrenaline.

The climax, shot over a grueling week in Mumbai, sees Shankar crashing Mukti’s wedding, dousing her mehendi with Ganga jal in a curse-laden confrontation. It’s poetic yet problematic: love as both healer and harbinger of chaos.

Production and Release Buzz

• Filming: Principal photography took place from October 2024 to July 2025. The Leh schedule finished in April 2025. The final emotional scenes in Mumbai reportedly left Kriti Sanon exhausted due to their intensity.
• Teaser and Trailer: The first teaser arrived in early October 2025 and created strong buzz, especially around Kriti’s performance. The full trailer, released on 14 November 2025, focused on love, longing, and pain, and was widely covered by entertainment media.
• Advance Booking: By 27 November 2025, pre-release sales in India had reached about ₹5.5 crore, with healthy bookings in multiplex chains and an opening-day occupancy of around 18.48% in Hindi markets.

Strengths and Flaws: Hits Like a Storm, Stumbles in the Aftermath

Tere Ishk Mein excels in emotional highs: those Benaras montages, where love blooms amid rituals, are cinematic poetry. It captures love’s spectrum—jealousy, sacrifice, hope—beyond infatuation, resonating with anyone who’s bartered emotions for logic. The trailer, amassing 29 million views, hinted at this intensity, and the film delivers for Tier-2 audiences craving drama.

Yet, flaws abound. The narrative’s unevenness—questionable stances on violence glorified before redemption—feels dated in 2025’s #MeToo era. The Pakistan war thread, while thrilling, dilutes the romance, turning it into a confused mish-mash. Runtime drags, with repetitive obsession beats testing patience.

Box Office Performance

Tere Ishk Mein has opened very strongly and has become Dhanush’s highest first-day earner in Hindi. It has even gone past the opening numbers of his 2025 Tamil titles Kuberaa and Idli Kadai.

• To enter the top 10 Bollywood openings of 2025, the film needed to cross ₹12.5 crore on day one, which it comfortably did.
• Key drivers of its strong start include nostalgia for Raanjhanaa, A.R. Rahman’s music, and solid demand for big-screen musical love stories.

Critical and Audience Reception

• IMDb Rating: 7.8/10 (based on early viewer ratings).
• Praise: Reviewers and fans are highlighting the powerful performances, especially Dhanush’s emotional range, and the intense central love story. The Times of India called it a “fantastic watch, emotional and beautifully made”. Social media reactions also praise the pairing and Dhanush’s acting, with comments like “Vera level Dhanush acting! 🥶” surfacing on platforms like BookMyShow.
• Criticisms: The main concern from some critics is the length. A few reviews describe it as a “bloated love story”, even while acknowledging its emotional weight and strong moments.
• Overall Verdict: For anyone who enjoyed Raanjhanaa or likes intense romances set against the ghats of Benaras, Tere Ishk Mein is being seen as a must-watch and is already being spoken of as one of the standout Hindi romantic films of 2025.

Where to Watch

• Cinemas: The film is currently playing in theatres across India (including chains such as PVR INOX and Cinepolis) and in several overseas territories. Local showtimes are available through Fandango, BookMyShow, or your usual ticketing apps.
• OTT Release: The digital streaming partner has not been officially confirmed yet, but an OTT premiere on platforms like Netflix or Prime Video is expected in early 2026.

Soundtrack Highlights

A.R. Rahman’s soundtrack is one of the biggest talking points. The album mixes Sufi-flavoured tunes with modern production and gives each phase of the story a distinct mood.

Standout tracks include:

• Tere Ishk Mein (Title track): Sung by A.R. Rahman, this haunting romantic song anchors the album and appears at key emotional points.
• The rest of the album offers a mix of moving ballads and energetic tracks that support both the romance and the dramatic set-pieces.

If you are planning a cinema outing this weekend, this film is still fresh in theatres as of 30 November 2025, and word-of-mouth is rising quickly. You can watch the official trailer on YouTube or stream the full album on Spotify before you go. Which part excites you more, the performances, the story, or Rahman’s music?

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