Tu Meri Main Tera Main Tera Tu Meri review: Kartik Aaryan has better chemistry with Jackie Shroff than Ananya Panday

TU Meri briny yamaltu briny yamaltu Tu MeriCast: karttika Aayan, Ananya Panday, Jackie ShroffDirector: Sameer VidwansRating: ★★.5Shakespeare gave Romeo and Juliet exactly five days to define "eternal love" against the backdrop of family feud. By contrast, Rumi and Ray are granted a ten-day Croatian holiday in Tu Meri Main Tera Main Tera Tu Meri (TMMTMTTM here on)...…Yet even with double the time and half the stakes, the central romance has all the heat of a pre-packed airline salad.Sameer Vidwans’ last directorial was SatyaPrem Ki Katha in 2023, again with Kartik Aaryan (and writer Karan Shrikant Sharma), which I loved. It had delved into a genuinely moving tale about two people who explore love, coming to terms with an unexpected circumstance.What is the plot of TMMTMTTM?TMMTMTTM by Sameer begins with the done to death meet-cute of the leads- Ray (Kartik) and Rumi (Ananya), who's a published author struggling to find readers for her book. He is a wedding planner. They meet on the way to Croatia, and the visually stunning first hour is dedicated to them falling in love. There's a problem: Rumi doesn't want to leave her ageing father (Jackie Shroff), an ex Army man, alone in Agra and move to the US with Ray after marriage. What happens next is the rest of the film.Things appear awkward initially because the chemistry between the lead couple is unconvincing.The first half lasts for an hour, so it should be called ‘crisp’, but it has virtually nothing happening story wise. Rumi’s dream of finding love amid today's ‘hookup’ culture appears shallow because ironically we can't make out when love blossoms between these two. Kartik looks like a million bucks, tapping into his goofy side to make his character likeable. Only... A love story requires a partner, not a solo act. Ananya visibly struggles with both emotional and romantic scenes.With the leads providing little nourishment, one has to look to the fringes of the frame for signs of life. The second half comes alive with humour and watchable performances, because we have veterans like Jackie Shroff (Rumi's father) and Neena Gupta (Ray’s mother) giving the film some heft. Sapna Sand as Renu too contributes her bit in making a particularly funny scene work. In fact, I would even say Kartik shares better chemistry with Jackie in their scenes, than he does with Ananya.What went wrong?The core message of TMMTMTTM, apart from "it's all about loving your family", is buried in Ray’s recurring dialogue: “Jo mard apni pasandeeda aurat ke liye kurbaani na de, voh mard mard nahi hota”. Yet, the actual payoff- Ray being persuaded to move into his wife’s home after marriage- is rushed into the final fifteen minutes. The second half would have been far more compelling had it focused on Ray adjusting to this new life, rather than treating the resolution like an afterthought. Oh, also the concept of ‘ghar jamaais’ has existed since infinity.​Alas, we must judge a film for what it is, not what it could have been. On the technical side, the music by Vishal-Sheykhar doesn't provide the necessary momentum. Lucky Ali’s track for instance makes no impact, and only serves to drag an already sluggish first half when the narrative desperately needs to be peppy.Overall, TMMTMTTM is a scenic postcard with no message written on the back. You might stay for the warmth of the veterans, but you will leave still searching for the love the title promised.