Celebrating 10 Years Of Tera Mera Ki Rishta, A Romantic Saga That Garnered A Lot Of Love!

By: Gurwinder Lotay | April 10, 2019

On 10 April 2019, Tera Mera Ki Rishta will complete ten years of its release. A lot has changed in a decade in Punjabi Cinema. The film is so fresh in our minds that it seems it has released just yesterday!

Tera Mera Ki Rishta had quite a resemblance with the plot of Bollywood film Maine Pyar Kiya and a Telugu Film too. Produced by Mukesh Sharma, it was also one of the costliest Punjabi films of that time. Jimmy Shergill and Kulraj Randhawa played lead roles. It had the presence of strong supporting cast including Raj Babbar, Anupam Kher, Dolly Minhas, Archana Puran Singh, Gurpreet Ghuggi & Binnu Dhillon.

This film was the debut directorial of talented Navaniat Singh, who had earlier assisted Manmohan Singh during Jee Aayan Nu, Assan Nu Maan Watna Da, Yaaran Naal Baharan, Mitti Waajan Maardi, and more.

Tera Mera Ki Rishta is a film about two youngsters from different countries; how their paths cross and they fall in love is what the film holds. Meet, played by Jimmy Shergill, is fun loving rich NRI, while Rajjo, played by Kulraj Randhawa, is a simple Punjabi girl with strong family values.

Opposites attract and what follows is pure romance and dramatic situations taking the story forward with some powerful sequences written by Amrik Gill. Specially the one where Meet(Jimmy's mother (Archana Puran Singh) humiliates Rajjo(Kulraj) and her father(Raj Babbar) during an ongoing wedding celebration, is an impactful scene. The film remains loyal to its romantic theme while Gurpreet Ghuggi adds some funny moments in it,

What made Ghuggi's comic act in Tera Mera Ki Rishta different from his other roles is that his character had an emotional past.

Also Read: Did You Know That Kulraj & Neeru Were Once Into A Cold War!

While talking to Ghaintpunjab about the film, Navaniat Singh got nostalgic and said, "It's been ten years but it seems like just yesterday. The journey has been great. Tera Mera Ki Rishta actually framed trajectory for my filmography till date. Making a romantic film back then was an experience which will always stay very close to me, especially doing a romantic feature with a great actor like Jimmy Shergill."

Tera Mera Ki Rishta was the first Punjabi film which was shot in Switzerland, and we believe no other Punjabi Film has been shot there till date. Navaniat adds, "We were supposed to shoot the film in Canada but due to some last minute visa problems we had to go and shoot in Switzerland, which in the film, was shown as Canada."

We reminded Kulraj Randhawa about Tera Mera Ki Rishta's tenth year and the actress exclaimed with joy, "O my god, ten years..it sounds like yesterday! It was wonderful playing Rajjo and I also got to act with Jimmy after Mannat. It was great to work with Raj BabbarJi, AnupamJi, Archanaji, Ghuggiji, and all the others. This film had good production value and some great music. During that time, films on NRI subjects were being made, but Tera Mera Ki Rishta on the same backdrop with a romantic theme was like a testing formula in Punjabi Cinema, and I am glad it worked."

Musically, the film had a variety of songs including a cheerful song on celebration of life from a girl's point, romantic to sad songs, a wedding Bhangra beat song, peppy rap song to folk vaar by Idu Sharif titled Jindagi De Rang, all beautifully used in the film at different points.

Tera Mera Ki Rishta had many firsts to its credit. Have a look at some merits and rare information about the film:

Cinematographer of Tera Mera Ki Rishta, Harmeet Singh is a known name in his field. But only a few know that he is the father of Punjabi director Navaniat Singh.
Before Kulraj Randhawa, even Minissha Lamba was considered for the lead role.
About the film, it is often stated that it was a remake of Telugu Film Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana. But it was presented differently in characterization and overall treatment for Punjabi audience so it wasn't an exact remake.
The Telugu film was remade in around eight languages including the Hindi Film Ramaiya Vastavaiya.
It was Tera Mera Ki Rishta's success which inspired Tips Films' Head, Kumar Taurani, to remake it in Hindi (Ramaiya Vastavaiya) for the debut of his son Girish Kumar.
Many Punjabi singers did a special appearance in the song Raunak Shaunak. It was one of the first kinds for many Punjabi singers to make an appearance in a film song together. Pammi Bai, Inderjeet Nikku, Ravinder Grewal, Masha Ali, Lehmbar Hussainpuri, Firoze Khan, HarjIt Harman, Gurkirpal Surapuri and more, not only sang the Raunak Song but also appeared in the video.
It had a very unique promotional strategy. Tera Mera Ki Rishta was the first Punjabi film which was promoted on digital media.
As mentioned above, it was also one of the firsts and so far the only Punjabi film which was shot in beautiful locations of Switzerland.
Mandeep Kumar, who assisted on the film, later directed successful films like Jihne Mera Dil Luteya, Ambarsariya, Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya.
To avoid typecasting of Navneet Nishan in same roles, makers approached Archana Puran Singh for Jimmy Shergill's mother's role.
Film opened with good numbers at the box office, and was the second big hit of the year, after Jimmy's other release Munde UK De.
Navaniat Singh, who assisted Manmohan Singh on his films, used the title Tera Mera Ki Rishta from his mentor's film Assan Nu Maan Watna Da's song.