When a rom-com calls itself What’s Love Got to Do With It? you know the answer: everything. The rom-com genre sets forth rules and cliches that lead to a predictable end so like that famous road to Hana, the journey rather than destination makes the difference. Working with a screenplay by Jemima Khan, director Shekhar Kapur puts a traditional Pakistani arranged marriage into the rom-com mix, hence the title question. Set in London, the story features a couple of adults who grew up as next-door neighbors and see each other regularly when visiting parents who bemoan their children’s single status.
Handsome Shazad Latif plays son Kaz, a successful doctor who fails to find the kind of wife his parents want. Meanwhile, lovely Lily James of Downton Abbey fame steps in as neighborly daughter Zoe, looking for her next documentary topic. Kaz provides it when he tells her about his plans accept whatever woman the Pakistani matchmaking circles prescribe, a practical approach that suits his parents’ religious and cultural desires. Khan’s script provides astute insights about dating world challenges, adding a twist as Zoe recounts fairy tales to her young nieces, putting herself in as a disillusioned heroine seeing no need for happily ever after. Kapur finds extra visual pizazz in the bright colors and costumes of Pakistani pageantry—and yes, that includes Bollywood style dance that lets British icon Emma Thompson kick up her heels as Zoe’s mother.
An engaging and pleasant package, What’s Love Got to Do Wit
h It provides fun sidestepping on the way to answering the question it poses. , you know the answer: everything. The rom-com genre sets forth rules and cliches that lead to a predictable end so like that famous road to Hana, the journey rather than destination make the difference. Working with a screenplay by Jemima Khan, director Shekhar Kapur puts a traditional Pakistani arranged marriage into the rom-com mix, hence the title question. Set in London, the story features a couple of adults who grew up as next door neighbors and see each other regularly when visiting parents who bemoan their children’s single status. Handsome Shazad Latif plays son Kaz, a successful doctor who fails to find the kind of wife his parents want.
Meanwhile, lovely Lily James of Downton Abbey fame steps in as neighborly daughter Zoe, looking for her next documentary topic. Kaz provides it when he tells her about his plans accept whatever woman the Pakistani matchmaking circles prescribe, a practical approach that suits his parents’ religious and cultural desires. Khan’s script provides astute insights about dating world challenges, adding a twist as Zoe recounts fairy tales to her young nieces, putting herself in as a disillusioned heroine seeing no need for happily ever after. Meanwhile, Kapur finds extra visual pizazz in the bright colors and costumes of Pakistani pageantry—and yes, that includes Bollywood style dance that lets British icon Emma Thompson kick up her heels as Zoe’s mother.An engaging and pleasant package, What’s Love Got to Do With It provides fun sidestepping on the way to answering the question it poses.
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