Gustaakh Ishq (2025)

A poet, a printing press and a daughter

Gustaakh Ishq 2025 is a Hindi period romance set in 1998, and its pitch is more literary than most mainstream love stories. According to the plot listings we read, Pappan, a young poet from Darya Ganj in Old Delhi, wants to keep his late father's printing press alive. His plan is to win the trust of Aziz Baig, a retired Urdu poet living in Malerkotla, so that Aziz will let him publish his poetry. Pappan ends up as the older man's disciple and becomes drawn to his daughter, Minni, which sets love against loyalty.

The film is directed by Vibhu Puri, who co-wrote it with Prasshant Jha. It is produced by Manish Malhotra and Dinesh Malhotra under Stage5 Productions. Because it is built around verse and a teacher-student bond, it will likely be judged on its writing and music as much as on its romance. This page is a preview, not a review, as we have not watched the film.

Cast, music and craft

Vijay Varma is credited as Pappan and Fatima Sana Shaikh as Minni, with Naseeruddin Shah as the veteran poet Aziz Baig. Sharib Hashmi and Rohan Verma appear in supporting roles. On paper, the central relationship is the generational one, an elderly poet as mentor and a young, ambitious writer as his student.

The music is by Vishal Bhardwaj, with lyrics credited to Gulzar, which is a notable combination for a film about poetry. Background score is credited to Hitesh Sonik, cinematography to Manush Nandan, and editing to Nitin Baid and Divyashree Samantaray. Filming is reported to have taken place in Amritsar and Delhi. For a story about words and verse, the songs and the dialogue will carry unusual weight.

Gustaakh Ishq release date and where to watch

The film premiered at the 56th International Film Festival of India in Goa on 24 November 2025 and reached theatres on 28 November 2025, after the makers moved it from 21 November. The certificate is listed as U/A 13+ and the runtime as 128 minutes. Reports say JioHotstar acquired the digital rights, and Wikipedia gives 27 January 2026 as the streaming start, though another trade site lists 24 January and we saw no official confirmation of the exact day, so check the app. Early box-office reports described a very soft opening, which we mention only as a reported trade figure, not a judgement of quality. Slow-burn, dialogue-driven romances often find their audience later on streaming.