What is love is a question Kazim Khan (Shazad Latif) is grappling with while pursuing an arranged marriage, in Shekar Kapur, new rom com What’s Love Got To Do With It? that opens in theaters this weekend.
Written by Jemima Goldsmith, ex-wife of former Pakistani cricketer-turned- Prime Minister Imran Khan, the story revolves around Kazim relenting to family pressure to an arranged or assisted marriage. His childhood friend and next door neighbor who is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, Zoe (Lily James) decided to make a film about this search for a bride and follows him to Lahore for the wedding.
BAFTA award-winning Indian filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, who has made films about Queen Elizabeth the First and the gritty Bandit Queen takes us from England to Lahore where he was born in1945, in tale about a British Pakistani family who is struggling with its place and identity questioning their cultural traditions while dealing with Islamophobia.
Shabana Azmi plays the mother who is also grappling with the struggle between traditional values and living in the west. This a different more comical role of her but the depth of her character shines through. The Cameo appearance by popular Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan adds a nice touch to the English film with a bollywood flavor . This satirical look at arranged or assisted marriage is also a serious look at the struggles of South families living in the west, trying to balance their traditional values and western ideas.
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