When Anand L Rai announced ‘Tere Ishk Mein’, it initially appeared to be yet another film centred on the familiar ‘alpha male’ archetype. However, when the movie finally hit theatres, it became clear that this time the problem wasn’t just the man - it was equally the woman. Both protagonists are emotionally directionless, trapped in a mindset where the man believes it is acceptable to be toxic in love. At the same time, the woman assumes it is okay to string someone along without commitment and believes she can erase deep-rooted anger and trauma through therapy.
The result? Two deeply flawed individuals - equally toxic - who ultimately spiral into self-destruction, digging their own graves and quite literally meeting tragic ends.
After several critics highlighted the toxic traits in both Dhanush’s Shankar and Kriti Sanon’s Mukti, the actress has now reacted to the criticism, offering a detailed defence of her character’s behaviour.
“The terms ‘toxic’ and ‘red flag’ have become quite common,” Kriti told ‘Zoom’, adding that the film has sparked widespread debate, something she views as a positive outcome.
She added, “People debating whether the characters are right or wrong is actually a great thing. A lot of people feel they are both right and wrong and that’s important. If your moral compass isn’t clearly aligned with just one person, that’s good because human beings make mistakes.”
Justifying Mukti’s obsessive need to ‘fix’ a man and her eventual descent into alcoholism, Kriti explained that her character is driven by overwhelming guilt. “Every time you do something wrong - if your heart isn’t evil and you’re not a bad person - there’s always a reason behind why you did what you did. It could be emotional or personal, but it comes from a certain perspective,” she said.
Sanon also addressed one of the most debated questions among audiences: Why does Mukti give her baby to Shankar? “There were so many reasons,” she said, elaborating that Mukti’s attempt to heal someone else ultimately destroys her own sense of self.
She added, “Someone as empathetic and caring as Mukti - imagine the kind of guilt such a person would carry if they feel they have unintentionally destroyed someone’s life or even caused their death. Her guilt is immense.”
She referred to the accidental death of Shankar’s father, played by actor Prakash Raj. She added that Mukti believes she deserves pain. “She gives up. She wants to die. She’s already dying, her father is dying and at the very beginning of the film, she tells her husband, ‘You cannot die on that boat’. So, she knows that even he may die.”
Speaking about Shankar, she said, “Mukti looked for him in days and after not finding him anywhere, she genuinely believes he might have killed himself.”
She added, “Living with that guilt and then suddenly realising he is alive - she would go to meet him no matter what. And at that point, she believes he is the only person she can trust with her child.”