Tu Meri Main Tera Main Tera Tu Meri review: For how long will Bollywood piggyback on the success of what once worked?

Tu Meri Main Tera Main Tera Tu Meri felt like it was made by an Indian uncle who decides the menu for a wedding.

It was 2003; I was 11 years old. Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham had just released. And despite this film being the poster child of “it's all about loving your family”, it was subconsciously teaching you how to romanticise being loved. I’d say the same for Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Dil To Pagal Hai and Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, because in obsessively watching these films as a child, I grew up believing that this is what love was supposed to look like. Bollywood was our love guru before we even knew what romance, relationships and love meant.

Maybe that’s why it’s so hard to enjoy a good rom-com today! The 11 year old who watched these films is 30-something now and the only reason these classics work for her today and so many others, is nostalgia - something films like Tu Meri Main Tera Main Tera Tu Meri are banking on. Because God knows those plots from the 90s and early 2000s wouldn’t work in 2025!

Maybe we’re the generation that’s stuck in the middle - wanting a ‘sweep me off my feet love story but make sure there’s mutual respect, consent and equality’. And we’re not asking for a lot! Yet we don’t see this narrative often in Bollywood; Rocky aur Rani was a treat to watch precisely for this. And the same production house who gave you that masterpiece, also gives you Tu Meri Main Tera, a film that felt as pointless as its title.

Also Read: Avatar Fire and Ash review: Pandora opens up once again, urging us to choose humanity and peace in an increasingly gun-blazing world!

Watch the trailer here!

Rumi(Ananya Pandey) and Rehan (KartikAaryan) bump into each other at an airport and after a brief interaction, it’s established that the two aren’t very fond of each other. You’re then made to believe that he secretly likes her because of course you irritate the person you like, silly me! After no sparks fly between them, they’ve fallen in love in the 10 days they’ve known each other and you cannot question that because “time doesn’t matter, Rumi!” So what’s the conflict really that they’ve based these 2 hours and 25 minutes on? Him not being able to take no as an answer. Oh, him and his mother, played by Neena Gupta.

At every corner, you come across an uncalled for Kartik Aaryan rant aka WhatsApp forwards uncles share, some not so subtle brand placements and an Agra aunty suddenly saying “totes”, “baby boomer” and more while her husband says “saiyam". This isn’t the kind of cinema you expect from Dharma but here is Dharma doing it yet again - turning a rom-com into unwarranted and overdone gyaan after every half hour.

Tu Meri Main Tera wasn’t even a funny film. Its humour left you angry; its jokes did not land. With its “imma joking, nepo babies” and many more pop culture conversations being plugged in, it was desperately trying to make fetch happen. A YJHD background score in a scene that tries to replicate that same magic, the MANY old movie songs being added for nostalgia like Rocky aur Rani previously did, oh and the ode to RARKPK with that last conflict - none of this worked in the film’s favour because nostalgia, which was pretty much a character in this one, can only take you so far.

Ananya Pandey’s Rumi sounded more like the actor herself than a writer hailing from Agra. Kartik Aaryan’s Rehan Mehra resembled every other Ranbir Kapoor main lead from a rom-com sans the charm. Neena Gupta wasn’t given a good script to work with, making JackieShroff the only actor to watch out for in this film. Chandni Bhabhda recreating the K3g moment with her fiancé felt forced just like her performance.

There’s very little to like about Tu Meri Main Tera. Spotting Quick Style in the sangeet and the recreation of Sajan Ji Ghar Aaye, both were it! All in all, without substance, all that TMMTMTTM came across was words being thrown at a wall, waiting for something to stick to build a 'regressive but sounds progressive' kinda story. 

Tu Meri Main Tera Main Tera Tu Meri is playing at a theatre near you!

For more reviews, follow us on @socialketchupbinge