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What's Love Got to Do with It? (2022 film)

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What's Love Got to Do with It?
Theatrical release poster
Directed byShekhar Kapur
Written byJemima Khan
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyRemi Adefarasin
Edited by
Music byNitin Sawhney
Production
companies
Distributed byStudioCanal
Release dates
  • 10 September 2022 (2022-09-10) (TIFF)
  • 24 February 2023 (2023-02-24) (United Kingdom)
Running time
108 minutes[1]
CountryUnited Kingdom
Languages
  • English
  • Urdu[2]
Box office$11.1 million[3]

What's Love Got to Do with It? is a 2022 British romantic comedy film directed by Shekhar Kapur and written by Jemima Khan. It stars Lily James, Shazad Latif, Shabana Azmi, Emma Thompson, Sajal Ali, Oliver Chris, Asim Chaudhry, Jeff Mirza, Alice Orr-Ewing and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.

The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 10 September 2022, and, at the 17th Rome Film Festival the following month, won Best Comedy (the Ugo Tognazzi award). It was released in the United Kingdom on 24 February 2023 by StudioCanal to positive reviews.

Plot

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In London, filmmaker Zoe Stevenson documents the experience of her British-Pakistani next-door neighbours, in particular her childhood best friend Kazim "Kaz" Khan's arranged marriage to a bride from Pakistan. Adamant on an arranged marriage to keep his parents happy, Kaz insists that such marriages do work, when questioned by Zoe. Eventually, a Muslim "matchmaker" named Mo sets up a video call between Kaz and Maymouna, a young woman from Pakistan. Kaz takes a liking to her, but she seems hesitant.

Both Kaz's and Maymouna's families eventually agree to the marriage, and Kaz prepares to travel to Lahore, Pakistan. Zoe, documenting the entire process, follows them to Pakistan, learning more about Pakistani culture and traditions along the way. She is constantly nagged by her mother for failing to find a suitable man herself, and so through the trip, she hopes to learn more about whether a relationship with someone chosen by parents could work.

In Pakistan, Kaz prepares for his wedding and is constantly interviewed by Zoe about details of his feelings towards Maymouna and the marriage. He is determined that if he keeps a positive attitude, the wedding will work out. However, on the inside Kaz seems to have his doubts too. Zoe mentions their first kiss in a treehouse behind their homes and he deflects by berating her for failing to find someone because she is too focused on finding the perfect person, so does not allow anyone to get close to her.

On the henna night, Kaz observes Maymouna smoking marijuana, and then drinking a large amount of alcohol and dancing wildly all over the floor. He comes to realise she is not the woman he thought she was. Frustrated and confused, Kaz leaves the event with Zoe and stumbles upon a Qawwali performance in the inner streets of Old Lahore. He explains to her what the Qawwal is singing about, which causes him to realise that his ideas of love align with Zoe's, but he has chosen to ignore them. Shortly afterwards, Kaz and Zoe try to explain their feelings to one other, but are not able to do so.

The next day, as Kaz marries Maymouna, Zoe witnesses an emotional rukhsati. On return to London, Zoe finally completes her film and begins dating James, a "stable" man her mother set her up with. With Zoe's film now completed, the Khan family is invited to a screening of the rough cut. On the same night, James breaks up with Zoe because he thinks she is in love with Kaz and he is merely her "plan B". Zoe becomes angry at her mother for setting her up with James in the first place, and accuses her of judging her for her choices.

Zoe's film ends up upsetting the Khan family for revealing that Kaz's sister, Jamila, had been disowned by the Khans for choosing to marry a white man. The film is then rejected by Zoe's producers as it was filmed through a "white lens". However, Maymouna loves it and tells Zoe it is beautiful.

Over the next few weeks, Maymouna and Kaz's marriage gradually deteriorates as neither develops any feelings for the other. Kaz is determined to make it work, but she says the only way to make it work would be to pretend. Maymouna eventually confesses to Kaz that she is in love with someone else.

As Eid approaches, Zoe travels to Turkey to take a break from all her emotional stress. Her mother insists that she admires Zoe for her independence and never judged her for any of the choices she made.

The Stevensons are invited over by the Khans for the Eid celebration and Kaz reveals to everyone that he is divorced. Kaz also invites back his estranged sister Jamila, her husband, and their baby. The family are finally reunited, and Jamila takes the baby to Nani Jan to hold. Zoe is overwhelmed by the reconcilliation and leaves, but Kaz follows her. He finds her in the treehouse and they kiss, confessing their feelings for each other but promising to take things slowly.

Cast

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Production

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In November 2020, it was announced Lily James, Emma Thompson and Shazad Latif had joined the cast of the film, with Shekhar Kapur directing from a screenplay by Jemima Khan, who will also serve as a producer on the film, alongside Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner who will produce under their Working Title Films banner, with StudioCanal to distribute.[4] In January 2021, Rob Brydon, Shabana Azmi, Sajal Ali and Asim Chaudhry joined the cast of the film;[5][6] Brydon does not appear in the final film.

Principal photography began in December 2020.[7]

Reception

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On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 72% of 107 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6/10. The website's consensus reads: "What's Love Got to Do with It? is a standard issue romantic comedy in many respects, but a pair of appealing leads help make this love story more crowd-pleasing than not."[8] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 59 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[9]

References

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  1. ^ "What's Love Got to Do with It? (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on 18 February 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  2. ^ "What's Love Got to Do with It?". Toronto International Film Festival. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022.
  3. ^ "What's Love Got to Do with It (2022)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  4. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (2 November 2020). "Lily James, Shazad Latif & Emma Thompson To Star In Working Title Rom-Com 'What's Love Got To Do With It?' From Jemima Khan & Shekhar Kapur; Studiocanal Launches Sales — AFM Hot Pic". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 30 November 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  5. ^ Ramachandran, Naman (15 January 2021). "Rob Brydon, Shabana Azmi Board Lily James and Emma Thompson Comedy 'What's Love Got To Do With It?'". Variety. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  6. ^ Grater, Tom (15 January 2021). "'What's Love Got To Do With It?' Finalizes Cast; Russian Box Office Boost; Susanne Bier Goteborg Keynote; Shine TV Boss Exits – Global Briefs". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 30 November 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  7. ^ Ramachandran, Naman (17 November 2021). "Shekhar Kapur Talks Lily James Starrer 'What's Love Got To Do With It,' Future of Indian Entertainment". Variety. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  8. ^ "What's Love Got to Do with It?". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 11 April 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
  9. ^ "What's Love Got to Do with It?". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 17 March 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
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