“Have we all been ruined by romcoms?” asks screenwriter Jemima Khan. “Do our fantastical romantic expectations see us looking for all the wrong things in all the wrong directions?”
In an age of dating apps where there are endless options only a swipe away, and a sense that matches are disposable, finding a genuine connection can feel for many like a far-flung possibility.
However, for centuries, many cultures have looked to their families to help find a suitable partner and organise an arranged or assisted marriage, a concept which is still widely practised across the globe.
These contrasting approaches influenced What’s Love Got To Do With It?, a funny new romantic comedy by Khan, starring Lily James, Shazad Latif and Dame Emma Thompson.
The story follows documentary filmmaker Zoe Stevenson, played by James, who is initially surprised that her childhood friend and neighbour Kaz Khan, portrayed by Latif, has turned to his parents to help organise an arranged marriage as the 32-year-old British-Pakistani doctor has not been able to find the right one.
She convinces Kaz and his family to let her film their process of finding a match, a journey which sees them go from London to Lahore in Pakistan for his wedding with chosen bride Maymouna, played by Sajal Aly.
Both characters act as a window into each other’s methods of finding love as Zoe’s dating life reflects a lot of successful women living in a city in their 30s who are grappling with the limitations of digital dating.
“I think Zoe is in turmoil, and she’s got a lot of defences up,” says 33-year-old James. “She’s hiding in her work and she’s doing really well. But as the film emerges, she’s sort of unravelled, and you realise that she is hiding from being vulnerable and opening up.
“There is a lot I relate to in the character, to be honest. I mean, I think you always find yourself in the characters that you’re drawn to play, but certainly, there were quite a lot of parallels with this one.”
Zoe also has to contend with her eccentric mother Cath, played by Dame Emma, who tries to follow in the Khans’ footsteps by attempting to matchmake her daughter with her vet James, with much less success.
Reflecting on the script, Dame Emma says: “It’s full of the contradictions and compromises of humanity that we’re all forced to make at every step of the way, however idealistic we might be.
“The message is that we all belong to one another. No matter what culture we come from. No matter what walls we may decide to put up inside ourselves. The fact of the matter is that all humans belong to all humans.”
Latif, who is of British-Pakistani heritage, feels his character is at the point where he thinks: “You know what? This actually might be easier because I’ve tried every other thing and it’s not working.”
His character is also aware of the challenges faced by his younger sister Jamila, played by Mariam Haque, as her choice of David, a non-Muslim partner she picked for herself, has created a rift between her and her family – the pain of which haunts the Khans.
“He feels like he has the responsibility to keep the family together and by having this arranged marriage that will sort everything out,” says Latif. “And it might bloody work out as she ends up being really lovely.”
The 34-year-old actor adds: “I don’t think there is a right way or a right path to love and none of us can say that we’re doing it perfectly or we know what we’re doing, but there are these traditions that go back hundreds of years.”
Khan witnessed these different attitudes to finding a partner as she left her life in London at the age of 20 for a love marriage which took her to Lahore and Islamabad, where she lived for a decade and had her two sons.
“During that time, I developed a deep affection for Pakistan, a vibrant and fascinating, yet often negatively depicted country,” she says.
“Living there opened my eyes to a profoundly different perspective on finding lasting love. And so, What’s Love Got To Do With It? began as an exploration of the contrast between eastern and western approaches to romance.
“While, for my friends in England, arranged marriage was often seen as some sort of medieval chattel swap (so often confused with the harrowing idea of forced marriage), I started to see some merits in the seemingly unromantic consensual arrangement.
“Over the course of my time in Pakistan, I saw many arranged marriages succeed. The couples I met whose marriages had been arranged didn’t start with love – they ended with it. According to Pakistani friends, lifelong love was founded on a ‘simmer then boil’ philosophy.
“Compatibility, rather than chemistry, formed a more solid foundation alongside the traditional ideas of shared value systems over adventure, and pragmatism over passion. My own marriage was the only love marriage in my ex-husband’s family history. And the only divorce.”
Bafta-winning director Shekhar Kapur, who grew up in India and was educated in London, also offered his first-hand experience of these contrasting cultures but with an eastern lens on the West.
Initially, the film was not intended to be a romcom, but Khan says she realised “sometimes it’s easier to say something meaningful about complex issues when you do it in a gentle, humorous way. I think someone once said that a joke is just the truth with a smile”.
Alongside family drama, witty humour and vibrant depictions of Pakistan, What’s Love Got To Do With It? offers a unique exploration of the worlds of having too much choice and no choice in relationships.
Kapur says: “I knew that this film would have audiences going out with tears in their eyes and a smile on their face.”
What’s Love Got To Do With It? is in cinemas now.
