Yes, it’s here and fans can’t wait to get their fill on the full show! What’s Love Got To Do With It Trailer Dropped, and if we’re mistaken, the makers are about to throw us arranged marriage encounters of a close kind!
The name sticks and the story revolves around that very notion – yeah! What’s Love Got To Do With It? When it comes to an arranged marriage, maybe, … nothing?
Zoe: Dare I ask: What about love?
Kazim: You grow to love the person you’re with
Zoe: What, like Stockholm syndrome?
You see, Zoe (Lily James) is disheartened with love till she discovers that her neighbour and childhood friend Kazim (Shazad Latif) is diving into unknown waters and the perils of arrranged marriage. ‘Love at first Skype’ is what she calls the ‘arrangement’ cynically, but little does she know she’s in for an emotional roller coaster of a ride, or so it seems. What she discovers as she follows Kazim to Pakistan to document the marriage is more than just a desi wedding – the experience might just make her think twice, or multiple times!
I used to think I’m scared of being with the wrong person,
But now I realize I’m scared of being with the right person
Zoe in What’s Love Got To Do With It
Can she find the right person through arranged marriage?
But all that comes later.
First Reaction To The Trailer
Pakistanis haven’t really had a real taste of comedy mixed with a healthy dose of romance. Hence, the witty one liners came fast and good. From meeting the rishta (uncle) yes, aunties, make way for the new kid on the block – Mo the matchmaker is here to find you the perfect match! The trailer threw laugh out comic feels; from hilariously pronouncing Kazim “top of the food chain – Doctor it is”, to the desi family sitting at a distance, but looking on attentively while Maymouna(Sajal) and Kazim (Shazad) step out to the cinema. From Zoe attempting to utter Assalam alekum, to understanding the contractual, assisted, arranged marriage on the cards of her friend, the trailer sought to indulge us with light hearted relief, a few giggles, and many nodding smirks as we sat back to see ourselves mirrored in all our arranged marriage glory.
It is interesting to note that despite all the multiple shows that have tackled this topic, the theme never fails to evoke laughter if treated with a relatable, witty kind of humour. To note that it has been scripted by Jemima Goldsmith is perhaps, a work in curiosity – how much of the show was drawn from her personal experience and how much is fiction? Audiences are asking this question in good humoured tweets and the curiosity is real!
The wedding frames were what got Pakistani fans for sure. Desi weddings are incomplete without perfectly synchronized mehndi dances and the trailer ticked the right boxes here, a glimpse of Rahat Fateh Ali, Lahore weddings anyone? Emma Thompson drapes wedding regalia and Sajal appears on top of her game as she warps into a total character shift in one snap of a finger: “Now the party starts’ leaves us wondering if she’s the same demure Maymouna we saw earlier on Skype!
Moving On To The Pakistani Star Of The Show, None Other Than Our Very Own Sajal Aly
Rarely if ever have we seen a British Pakistani show taking on local Pakistani stars. The makers usually limit themselves to British Pakistani actors. Hence Sajal Aly’s involvement in the project is a giant leap for (women) and mankind. Sajal has a massive fanbase and rightly so. She has been involved in projects that speak out of the box, across the border and in layered undertones – from Mom to Dhoop Ki Deewar, now What’s Love Got To Do With It and … everything in between! It is no mean feat to bring so much diversity to the table at such a young age and fan expectations are sky high because Sajal has decided to take on the role of Maymouna.
Sajal Aly What’s Love Got To Do With It – Desi Wedding Feels
Sajal aka Maymouna seems mild tempered and shy at first look, and although we saw ever so fleeting glimpses of her in an over 2 minute trailer, we managed to note the shift from quiet, reserved to shaking a leg and a half at the wedding! It was almost as if the trailer made us travel through a short form version of the story line, from rishta to first meet, to desi wedding bells, in the blink of an eye. Each transition was a mood in itself and every frame evoked a smile.
Moving On To The Humour
Moving on to the humour…some might find it a a tad over the top, some might even find it offensive, but hello there, this is Pakistani Indian diaspora coloured in British humour. The witty one liners hit the funny bone and the rishta scene was packaged in quirky humour that will force a giggle from the light at heart and a raised eyebrow from those who might not (ahem) really get the ‘rom-com’ take on desi affairs too well!
Similarly, we have to appreciate the typically British undertones in dialogue, (it is a British production you know), almost like watching signature Hugh Grant humour with brown people thrown in. Oh, but now I’ve said too much, it is the trailer after all!
But What’s Love Got To Do Delved Deeper Than Just Giving Us Love Feels
We all need other people, there’s no weakness in that
Zoe’s mom Cath (Emma Thompson) to Zoe
And isn’t an arranged marriage just that? A realization that we need another person in our lives. How the story wraps itself around the two people who make it happen is the journey that we await in What’s Love Got To Do With It?
A Note On The Casting
Although it is laudable that the makers cast Sajal Aly who will largely be the face of Pakistani representation in What’s Love Got To Do With It, we would want to see more represenation from Pakistani talent when we play Pakistani characters onscreen. This is, no doubt, a huge debate in the west and although the star-studded cast including the likes of Shabana Azmi is a treat to watch for desis all over the world, we would love to see more Pakistani representation as we undertake more cross-cultural projects.
To sum it up, the over 2 minutes trailer for ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It?’ gives a taste of humour (but it’s desi masked in British, so hold your Twitter finger there), big fat desi wedding feels and a step into the world of rom-coms with a star cast the likes of which we’ve never seen under one roof! Just imagine, Emma Thompson, Sajal Aly, Shabana Azmi, Lily James, Shazad Latif and more are setting the tempo for some serious comic disasters onscreen. So let’s sit back and wait for the full show … coming soon!
Watch The Trailer Here & Get Your Dose Of Desi Wedding Feels
‘What’s Love Got To Do With It?’ is written and co-produced by Jemima Khan and directed by Indian filmmaker Shekhar Kapur. The ensemble cast includes Sajal Aly, Emma Thompson, Lily James, Shazad Latif, Shabana Azmi, Asim Chaudhry, Mim Shaikh, Jeff Mirza, Iman Boujelouah, Mariam Haque, Rob Brydonand, and Sindhu Vee. The film is set to release in UK cinemas on 27th January, 2023.
Want To Know More about The Plot?
The film centers around a girl Zoe played by Lily James who has had her fair share of bad dates much to her mother, Cath’s (Emma Thompson) dismay. Zoe decides to document her childhood friend and neighbor, Kazim’s (Shahzad Latif) journey from London to Lahore as he decides to follow his parents’ footsteps and opt for an arranged marriage with a girl from Pakistan (our guesses is that the girl is going to be played by Sajal Aly but nothing is official yet!)
As Zoe sees life from a new lens and experiences a world unknown to her, she questions her take on love. Get more details here.
