'Tu Meri Main Tera Main Tera Tu Meri': Kartik Aaryan and Ananya Panday star in a witless film

Before we unpack this week’s release - Dharma Productions’ Tu Meri Main Tera Main Tera Tu Meri (what on earth is that title all about?!) - let’s look at the ideas the script flirts with. A supposedly charming mama’s boy who dotes on his single mother while embodying just the right mix of tradition and modernity. A smart young writer desperate to move out of her widower father’s home to get the independence she craves. A Gen-Z–coded meet-cute set against a stunning backdrop. The fear of parental opposition. The boy’s determined campaign to win over his girlfriend’s tough father. The eternal love-versus-family-obligations quandary. And, of course, the ever-pertinent question: who sacrifices more — parents or children? Should kids put their love lives on hold to care for aging parents? And once married, who relocates for whom - the bride or the groom? (Have I listed them all? I think I have.) 

Now, take a deep breath and start naming the films that have wrestled with these themes before. Don’t worry; allow us to jog your memory: Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Piku, Hum Tum, Tamasha, 2 States, Yaadein, Pardes, Tu Jhooti Main Makkar… feel free to add a few more to the list. 

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These two paragraphs, dear readers, encapsulate what the makers of this Kartik Aaryan–Ananya Panday romcom seemed to be aiming for. A mini-DDLJ for the current generation, steeped in ’90s nostalgia through its music, peppered with woke ideas, and anchored in the age-old notion of love with parental approval. In fact, the female lead spells out the film’s premise early on: “I’m searching for ’90s love in 2025’s hook-up culture.” 

Kartik plays Rehan, a rich carefree US-based wedding planner who can sweep any woman off her feet with his wit and easy confidence. His entry scene in a helicopter is a nod to Shah Rukh Khan in K3G but with the camera focusing on his designer labels. Ananya is Rumi, a novelist who lives with her father (Jackie Shroff) and sister in Agra while dreaming of being on her own. They meet on a trip to Croatia (Why Croatia?) for a Yacht Week celebration. No explanation is given for why a wedding planner and a writer would be invited for such an event. After initial skirmishes, the duo inevitably falls in love. But when he proposes, she chickens out. The reason: her gruff army officer father will be left alone in his old age making it impossible for her to relocate, leaving her with no choice but to sacrifice her love. Rehan is shocked but the lovelorn lad is egged on by his mother (an over-gregarious, hammy Nina Gupta) to win his dulhaniya back from Agra. Rehan has little option but to channel his inner SRK and do the needful.  

On paper, all these sound cool. And perhaps the film could have been at least fun, if not engaging, had director Sameer Vidwans and writer Karan Shrikant Sharma, infused the screenplay with a semblance of coherence. Scenes are choppily edited, the performances are over the top and too many things make very little sense. Who is to tell Bollywood that adding a few Gen Z slang in dialogues (aankhon ke DM mein slide kardo) or pop culture references like Stranger Things, using ‘bro’ and ‘dude’ liberally or having a sassy mother and a middle-aged neighbourhood aunty asking questions don’t really make a film “young”. 

However it’s the randomness of it all that’s most befuddling. Characters and situations appear which have very little relevance to the central plot. For instance, a sub track featuring an astrologer and his steamy wife who is smitten by Rehan and hits on him in front of her husband and grown-up son, is supposed to be funny but has been handled clumsily. Another side plot of the leading lady’s sister’s ex is brought up only to be quickly discarded. Jackie Shroff’s character is meant to be the protective father (reminds you of his 2001 yawn-fest Yaadein) but there is hardly any depth to his relationship with his daughters. Ananya’s career as a writer plays no bearing on her character’s arc or her life journey except to give her a book reading at the end (a la Hum Tum). A very random medley of 90s Bollywood songs is placed as part of the wedding celebrations but it serves little purpose other than to make you nostalgic.   

Notice a pattern? This is a film too busy doffing its hat to past Bollywood hits to make sense in the current year. Nowhere is this more evident than in its music. Vishal Shekhar has come up with hummable original songs but the centrepiece is the afore-mentioned medley including iconic tracks like Saat Samundar and Mehendi Laga Ke Rakhna. When the latter plays, honestly, you end up wishing Shah Rukh Khan would magically appear and save the proceedings. The music of Jackie Shroff’s classic film Hero plays in the background in a scene featuring him while Neena Gupta makes a grand entry in one of the sequences to the tunes of Choli Ke Peeche. If you are a Bollywood buff, you’d perhaps enjoy remembering and identifying these songs. ‘But otherwise, there is very little fun to be had because everything is so unconvincing and shallow, with even the progressive themes not being explored organically.  

On the plus side is Anil Mehta’s cinematography which has captured the scenic streets and seascapes of Croatia well in the first half. At least the touristy bits are enjoyable even if you don’t connect to the shenanigans of the lead pair. But the indoor sets, especially the wedding scenes,look cut, copied and pasted from another recent Dharma film Sunny Sanskari ki Tulsi Kumari. It actually feels that Varun Dhawan and Jahnvi Kapoor from that film left the venue and clothes behind for Kartik and Ananya to take over.  

Speaking of which, if you do sit through the film, it’s largely because of its leads. The two share a serviceable chemistry, but the utter lack of emotional heft in their characterisation prevents them from making any real impact. Kartik leans hard into his familiar goofy charm; while it feels forced in several scenes, this remains his comfort zone and he navigates it with ease. 

Ananya, however, delivers a largely lacklustre turn. She is impeccably styled, of course, - every inch the ultra-chic heroine - but this works against her characterisation as a “simple” Agra girl weighed down by responsibility and sacrifice. With the role so thinly written, it becomes difficult to invest in, or even feel, the journey she is meant to be going through. As for the seniors, Jackie looks disinterested while Neena Gupta takes her instagram personality onto the screen.  

In a nutshell, if you want a break from blood and gore-ridden Bollywood and prefer a softer, romantic and warm Bollywood, don’t look for it in 2025. Dust off those DVDs or log on to some OTT platform or YouTube and revisit the love stories of yore.  

  Rating: 2 Stars