Prem Keetanu enters the marketplace at a revealing moment for Hindi cinema. It is not a spectacle, not a franchise, and not built around a superstar. It belongs to the unassuming tradition of the college romance—the kind of film that once could sell itself to friends looking for a weekend outing.
The home screen changed the proposition
The rapid expansion of OTT platforms gave audiences a legitimate alternative to the multiplex, particularly for films without the pull of an event. The pandemic accelerated that habit. A 2025 India Today analysis of theatre-going observed that audiences increasingly ask why they should spend on a cinema ticket when a film will eventually arrive on streaming.
For the Hindi romantic comedy, the impact has been sharp. A genre that once held a reliable slot in the theatrical calendar has increasingly migrated to streaming as mid-sized romances and rom-coms become home-viewing choices.
The theatre bill is no longer just the ticket
Ticket pricing, however, is only part of the calculation. Ormax data cited by industry reports puts the average Indian cinema ticket price at ₹161 in 2025. Equally important is what surrounds the ticket. Ormax’s 2026 Bollywood Audience Report, based on research among 2,000 regular Hindi theatregoers, identifies overpriced food and beverages as the biggest barrier to more frequent theatre visits—ahead of ticket prices.
- The average cinema ticket in India reached ₹161 in 2025.
- Overpriced F&B now ranks as the top barrier to theatre-going, above ticket prices.
- Urban India has an estimated 28.5 million regular Hindi theatregoers, with under-30s responsible for 57% of Hindi box-office revenue and 70% of first-day business.
For a group of friends deciding whether to watch a film like Prem Keetanu in a multiplex, the cost is no longer limited to the seat. Transport, food, drinks and premium pricing for certain shows and locations all enter the decision. A film that looks like a comfortable home watch becomes easy to postpone.
The audience it needs is also the audience most used to streaming
Ormax estimates 28.5 million regular Hindi theatregoers in urban India. Under-30 viewers account for 57% of Hindi box-office revenue and as much as 70% of first-day box office. That is precisely the group a college romance must woo—and the group most accustomed to watching such films at home.
Prem Keetanu’s appeal lies in familiar pleasures: friendship, banter, first love, jealousy, heartbreak and music. It is not selling a complicated premise. It is selling a feeling of being young.
The real contest is convenience
The question is not whether audiences have stopped enjoying sweet Hindi films. It is whether a sweet film can convince them that the theatrical experience is worth paying for against an entire library of entertainment at home.
For filmmakers and marketers, that means the pitch cannot be only the film. It has to sell the outing—the company, the big screen, the shared reaction—and acknowledge the total cost a group faces. Prem Keetanu makes that question explicit: can a simple story about college, friendship and love still compete for a young audience’s money and time? That may be the real battle for the Hindi romantic comedy now.
Source: PeepingMoon
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