What's Love Got To Do With It?
Shekhar
Kapur (director), Jemima Khan (writer), Remi Adefarasin BSC (cinematography),
Guy Bensley, Nick Moore (editors)
Lily
James, Shazad Latif, Shabana Azmi, Emma Thompson, Sajal
Aly, Asim Chaudhry, Jeff Mirza (cast)
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| Image credit: Courtesy of TIFF |
What’s
Love Got To Do With It? is the latest
directorial effort from Shekhar Kapur, who brings to the screen a script by
Jemima Khan. The story follows Zoe (Lily James) a documentary filmmaker
who tries to pitch ideas for her next venture but when all else fails decides
to offer up the story of her childhood friend and neighbour Kazim (Shazad
Latif). Kazim, a doctor from London, has decided to give arranged marriage a
chance and this decision baffles Zoe.
So begins
an attempt at understanding this exotic South Asian practice and what it looks
like in the modern era. The film tries its best to be respectful of a tradition
still observed today in the sub-continent and among diasporas in
countries like England. But, in the end, does the film expand our understanding
of the concept? Does it humanize a community still demonized in Hollywood? Does
it subvert the tropes of a romantic comedy?
The answer
to all that may indeed lie in the eye of the beholder. I am bored of families
from the subcontinent always being presented in films as obsessed with
tradition and marrying off their children. I’m also tired of the white saviour
trope that somehow rears its head in this film. I think there are other stories
to tell about the South Asian community that don’t necessarily involve a battle
between old and new ideals.
Part of
the film takes place in Pakistan as well, which surprised me since most rom-coms
just stick to locations or countries in the West. I enjoyed seeing the different
rituals and vibrant characters and locales. That segment could have been
longer.
I watched
this film for Shazad Latif, who I’m certain deserves amazing roles based on his
talents and not only his name or heritage. He is stunning in this film and
plays the role of Kazim exactly as needed—we don’t know how Kazim feels about
his decision because he doesn’t know either. He is dogged in his determination
to do what will make his family happy, but Kazim loses himself in the process. Latif
has some comic moments that will make you laugh because the truth hurts, and he
plays them straight-faced, which makes him funnier. He is fantastic to watch
and I’d like to see him in more leading roles.
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| Image credit: Courtesy of TIFF |
Sajal Aly,
who plays Maymouna, has a relatively curtailed role but she does a fabulous
job. Her character is hard to pin down because, like Kazim, she’s also playing
a role, not living her life. I thought she encapsulated that and the fact that
Maymouna is extremely young and living life to the fullest, brilliantly.
Lily James
has her moments in this film, but the character of Zoe feels like an audience
stand-in, not a fully-fledged person. In the third act, she’s accused of making
poor romantic choices and yet we only see her bring home one person once and
regret the decision the next morning (seemingly because he’s married). There’s
no context provided for the rest of her hookups; there’s frankly no context
provided for her at all. Zoe just isn’t a well-written or developed character.
She is what the plot needs her to be—most of the time she’s the documentarian
trying to decipher what arranged marriage is and if it’s successful; other
times she’s a good friend who babysits her friend’s daughters and tells them
feminist iterations of classic fairytales. The latter part of the film turns
her into a promiscuous, emotionally unavailable creature, when it really seemed
more like Zoe was just someone uninterested in romance and more invested in her
work. But nope, she had to undergo some kind of Hollywood-esque character
assassination.
James and
Latif have no chemistry. They are believable as close friends and I enjoyed
watching their interactions, but the moment the story shifts into romance
territory, the authenticity of their interactions falls away.
Emma
Thompson, who plays Zoe’s mum Cath, is amazing. Cath is constantly saying the
most inappropriate things, but Thompson really knows how to imbue the character
with energy and panache and cringe and emotion. I loved her in this film,
though that wig on Thompson’s head is so terrible. Who greenlit that!
The last
fifteen minutes of the film were surprisingly melodramatic. I could have sworn
I was watching a basic Bollywood film; it was simply ridiculous. This is where
the music crescendos, and there are tears and reconciliations. I genuinely
can’t believe What’s Love Got To Do With It? devolved into such a
conclusion.
What’s Love Got To Do With It? left me wondering what point the film was trying to make. Is the eternal tug-of-war about love and marriage still a subject that needs to be explored by the media? And what is the take away from this film? Granted, the film tries not to deal in binaries, but it doesn’t come to any conclusion at all. The film falters at the starting line—the central conceit of the story—and never quite recovers after.
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