Prem Keetanu Movie Review - Veer Pahariya and Aafiya Sayed Navigate Love, Choices, and the Messiness of Growing Up

Duration – 2h 18m

Rating – 4/5

Some love stories stay with you because of the grand gestures. Others stay because they remind you of a time when a simple text could make your entire day, when you discussed your crush with your best friend for hours, or when you spent far too much time wondering whether someone actually liked you or was just being nice. Prem Keetanu belongs to the latter category.

Directed by Apoorv Singh Karki, the film is a young, cheerful romance on the surface, but underneath that is a fairly honest story about growing up, making choices and figuring out what you really want from life. It has the easy humour and youthful energy of a campus romance, but it doesn't stop at the love story.

Veer Pahariya plays Vishal, a carefree backbencher who seems to have little interest in taking life too seriously. He is happy living in the moment until Suhani, played by debutante Aafiya Sayed, enters his life. She is organised, focused and much more sorted than Vishal, and naturally, he is completely smitten.

What makes their relationship enjoyable is that it doesn't feel like one of those instant, larger-than-life romances. There is awkwardness, hesitation, confusion and a lot of that youthful uncertainty that makes first love so entertaining. Vishal is trying to understand Suhani while simultaneously trying to understand what he wants from his own life.

Veer Pahariya gets the tone of Vishal right. He is funny when the situation demands it, but the performance becomes more interesting when Vishal is no longer the carefree boy cracking jokes. There is a genuine vulnerability in the moments where he begins questioning his choices and his future. Pahariya manages to make that transition without making it feel like a sudden change of character. But the fun part is he does not change completely, but sometimes becomes serious, which is what we all do. 

Aafiya Sayed makes a confident debut as Suhani. What could easily have been a conventional "girl in a love triangle" role gets more personality because of the way she plays her. Suhani has her own ambitions and her own way of looking at things. Her chemistry with Vishal is sweet precisely because it is a little awkward and imperfect. You can actually believe that these two young people are figuring each other out.

Then there is Aparshakti Khurana as Ranjeet, who brings a completely different energy to the film. His rivalry with Vishal is less about serious competition and more about the sheer absurdity of two young men trying to impress the same girl. His scenes with Rakesh Bedi, who plays Suhani's father, are particularly entertaining. Ranjeet's attempts to win over her father provide some of the film's funniest moments.

But the film becomes more interesting when it moves beyond the question of "who will get the girl?"

Vishal's relationship with his parents is one of the better-written aspects of the story. There is something very familiar about the way his father communicates with him—there is love, but not necessarily the vocabulary to express it. Their conversations are sometimes funny and sometimes unexpectedly touching because they don't feel overly dramatic.

One particular phono conversation between Vishal and his father is very emotional, where he asks Vishal over a call What do you want. This scene touches every youngester because the conversation between a father and son is only limited to Demand from son and supply from father. 

The US visa subplot brings that conflict to the forefront. What should have been a moment of celebration suddenly becomes complicated for Vishal. If he leaves, what happens to Suhani? Does she feel the same way about him? Is staying back for love the right thing to do? And perhaps most importantly, is he making a decision because he truly wants it or because he is afraid of losing someone?

These are not revolutionary questions, but Prem Keetanu doesn't need them to be. Its charm comes from how simply it approaches them.

The friendship between Vishal and his roommate, played by Nikhil Vijay, adds another layer of warmth. Their conversations have the familiarity of two friends who have spent enough time together to discuss relationships with complete confidence despite having absolutely no idea what they are talking about. Some of their relationship theories are ridiculous, but that is exactly what makes them funny.

The music fits naturally into this world. “Kaho Toh,” “Tu Mera Raiyyo” and “Ishq Ka Ghulaam” add to the youthful mood without taking the story away from its characters. The colourful visuals and energetic soundtrack give the film the breezy quality one expects from a young romance.

Apoorv Singh Karki keeps the film light even when the subject becomes emotional. The screenplay by Deepak Kingrani understands that the film works best when it allows its characters to simply talk, joke, argue, and occasionally sit with their confusion. It doesn't try too hard to turn every emotional moment into a big cinematic scene.

The film has familiar beats and a few moments that could have been tighter, but its sincerity makes them easy to overlook. Prem Keetanu isn't trying to reinvent the coming-of-age romance. Instead, it takes familiar emotions and gives them a warm, entertaining setting.

And perhaps that is why the film works. You don't necessarily remember every plot point. Still, you remember the feeling—the nervousness of young love, the comfort of an old friend, the awkwardness between a father and son, and that strange period of life when everyone expects you to know what you're doing even though you are still trying to figure it out yourself.

Prem Keetanu is a sweet, funny, and genuinely warm coming-of-age romance. Veer Pahariya and Aafiya Sayed bring an easy charm to the central relationship, while Aparshakti Khurana and Rakesh Bedi keep the humour alive. Beneath all the romance and comedy, the film quietly reminds you that growing up is not just about falling in love—it is also about figuring out who you are and what you are willing to choose when life gives you more than one road.

A warm-hearted film with enough laughs, romance, and relatable moments to leave you smiling.