We have a theory – a few months ago, inside Aanand L Rai’s office, an overworked intern might have scribbled over a stack of scripts: Fighter, Kabir Singh, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, DhadkanAnd yes, the holy grail of passionate love, RaanjhanaaAnd while sorting it out, someone collected some leaves from each and said, “Oho‘This looks interesting’ and pitched it as a film. And, really, that’s the only logical explanation in love with you,

Written by Himanshu Sharma and Neeraj Yadav, the film begins in the beautiful silence of Ladakh, with Air Force officer Shankar (Dhanush) engaging the enemy with complete abandon. And while his unit fears impending war, he is fighting a personal war. Like most Bollywood heroes in uniform, he is short-tempered, explosive and allergic to power. Within minutes, she was put on hold and asked to meet with a counselor.

And thus enters Kriti Sanon – heavily pregnant, slightly drunk, anxious and popping pills like a mint, and still completely under professional duty. Even if we forget morality, their shabby appearance alone is enough to make patients run away from their clinics. But he is given permission to do the job of helping this esteemed officer, and this begins the film’s lengthy flashback.

Flashing back seven years, we meet Kriti as Mukti, a psychology student presenting her thesis on how violence is like appendicitis, which has no real use but causes extreme pain. He firmly believes that it can be ended through love, sympathy and counselling. In a stroke of luck, she sees Shankar beating up the boys in college (a classic Bollywood hero entry), and instead of running for her life, her academic mind says, “This is perfect material for my research paper.” As far as Shankar is concerned, he is already madly in love with her and dreaming of marriage.

She decides to ‘fix’ him, because of course, women in Bollywood and sometimes in real life have ‘God Syndrome’. They pick a broken man, fall in love with him, try to fix him through unconditional love and irritable optimism, and then let them ruin their lives.

Through Shankar’s study of liberation, themes such as violence, childhood trauma, grief, class differences and insecurity are simply… grazed. Losing a parent, especially the way it happens, affects humans so deeply that it cannot be used in convenient, dramatic moments.

The basic love story between Mukti and Shankar is presented in such a quirky way that you never manage to invest in their passion. As soon as she realizes his passion, she gives him an almost impossible task. And look, when he manages to achieve this, she has already moved on, giving him a new surge of passion and violence. And by the climax, when she finally explains her life decisions, you almost want to stand up and ask, “Why… just why?” And about that metaphor salt of laborer’s money…let’s not get into that.

after RaanjhanaaWho normalized stalking and obsessive pursuit, in love with you Takes the toxicity up a notch. While both leads are confused, emotional, self-destructive and broken, maybe not. Mukti is written like she is broken, but she is absolutely badly written. An informed, educated psychology student; A woman’s ability to take such problematic decisions in her life is questionable. She’s so selfish and superficial that by the end you really start to despise her.

And amidst all this emotional drama, somewhere the logical gap grows: a 26-27-year-old man is appearing for the Air Force exam, far above the prescribed age limit. Kriti’s character completes her doctorate degree in three years and then goes for post-graduate. It makes you wonder if these educational qualification rules only apply to us general publicEven the security guards outside his house appear and disappear depending on the convenience.

And even if you put aside every particle of morality, logic and sensibility – strictly watching it for entertainment – ​​the film overstays its welcome. With a runtime of around three hours, it is peppered with some absurdly fitted storylines, especially the 12th fail-inspired UPSC track. It almost feels like a big buffet where nothing tastes good. Even the music apart from the title track and the Tamil song doesn’t come off, which is heartbreaking since it stars AR Rahman.

Performance wise, Dhanush and Kriti did what they were told and they did it quite well. Dhanush’s portrayal is heartbreakingly layered and raw enough to elevate even the weakest scenes. Kriti also gives her best performance and shines in many silent moments. Prakash Raj is the real heartbeat of the film and whenever something goes wrong with him, your heart swells. Whistles blow due to the presence of Zeeshan Ayyub Raanjhanaa Old memories and ‘Pandit’ dialogues. As far as Tota Roy Chowdhury, Paramveer Singh Cheema and Priyanshu Painyuli are concerned, we wish we got more from them.

in love with you This is exactly the kind of film that tier-2 and tier-3 audiences will definitely love – full of drama, full of emotions and structured around the toxic love that Bollywood keeps romanticising. Kabir Singh And Animaland recently a crazy person’s madnessBut morally, thematically and emotionally, it collapses, It leaves you agitated, unsettled and a little disturbed that even in 2025, we are seeing stories that glorify dangerous men and equally dangerous relationships,