If I say “simmer first and then boil”, what comes to your mind? Someone’s culinary skills? But in director Shekhar Kapur’s world, it refers to the age-old concept of arranged marriages in South-Asian culture. His latest film What’s Love Got To Do With It? explores how arranged marriages fit into modern-age relationships.
The cross-cultural romantic comedy set in London and Pakistan marks Jemima Khan’s screenwriting debut. The 110-minute film stars Lily James and Shazad Latif along with veterans Shabana Azmi and Emma Thompson.
From ‘love at first skype’ to dating apps, the film experiments with the rules of romance and sparks conversation about companionship, love and the institution of marriage — all from the lens of its two central characters, Zoe (James) and Kazim (Latif).
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Zoe is a documentary filmmaker who skims through dating apps to find romance. Her next-door neighbour and best friend Kazim (Latif) is a doctor, who opts the conventional route of arranged marriage, or as Zoe describes it ‘assisted marriage’. Just as Zoe begins to document Kazim’s journey to get married through traditional means, deeper concerns surface that makes the story engaging.
For the most part, the film might come across as predictable but Kapur manages to create something fresh and disarmingly sweet.
Kapur taps into the cultural quirks of a Pakistani-British family, from their life in London to their roots in Lahore. While James and Latif lead the narrative with a tinge of freshness, the film — time and again — relies on Thompson and Azmi’s responsible shoulders. Their presence on screen and chemistry with anything and everything in the film is delightful.
The film also finds space for Zoe’s musings as a successful, independent woman, who often creates her own version of how popular fairy tales like Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood or Sleeping Beauty.
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James is no stranger to romantic films and she imbibes Zoe’s spirit wholeheartedly. Latif does well as a British-born Pakistani who is struggling with being a ‘good son’ and ‘being happy’. Thompson and Azmi shine through each frame but Jemima Khan’s script is the real star here.
What happens at the end is not as important as how we arrive there. Kapur returns to the director’s seat after 15 years with What’s Love Got To Do With It? and it appears like no time has passed.
(Edited by Anurag Chaubey)