Written by: Hamad Ali
Posted on: August 19, 2019 | 
| 中文
Maya Ali as Saniya
Parey Hut Love was one of the biggest and most anticipated Eid releases this year. It garnered a profit of 80 million rupees within its first week in theatres, and the trailer alone attracted 1.6 million views on YouTube. Given all the hype, the film seemed promising enough to surpass the expectations of Pakistani cine-goers, who have been constantly disappointed by shallow characters and underdeveloped scripts.
The film, directed by Asim Raza and written by Imran Aslam, revolves around Sheheryar (Sheheryar Munawwar), a struggling actor who meets Saniya (Maya Ali), at her cousin Natasha (Parishe James)’s big fat wedding. The couple strike a chord, and fall in love while exploring the city of lights together.
As the film unfolds, Sheheryar fails to express his true feelings, and ignores Saniya’s calls, leading her to cast him out of her mind. Months pass, and when Saniya returns to Karachi, the couple meet again. But this time, Saniya is joined by her fiancé, Hasan (Shahbaz Shigri). Saniya's and Sheheryar's reunion comes with anxieties and insecurities typical to the “will-they-or-won’t-they” trope of romantic films. The script is quadripartite of four big weddings in Karachi, acting as subplots for the main love story to weave through.
Parey Hut Love is an amalgamation of beautiful aerial shots of grand venues and landscapes, combined with wide angles and panning shots of the characters. But the constant juxtaposition between angles, turns the film into an unsightly cross between a YouTube travel blog and a TV sitcom. This left the viewer disoriented and confused as to the tone of the story.
Flawed editing, combined with blurry shots, established early on in the film that its technical aspects were handled carelessly. The aesthetic detail, however, is given the most thought and attention. The audience is almost smothered by the extravagance of elite Karachi weddings throughout the film. The grand mehndi decor and heavily embellished clothes, seem a bit too perfectly detailed, and could not balance the lack of depth in the characters.
Just like many of the films released recently, Parey Hut Love’s script failed to develop the character’s interests and motivations, which forces the audience to see them as merely beautiful and superficial people. Although the film is centered around the love story of Sheheryar and Saniya, we don’t really see Saniya playing any active part in taking her story forward. Although she is shown as an educated and independent woman, she falls back on predictable and conventional tropes, such as marrying quickly to please her father.
Similarly, we are not sure what profession she pursues, or the kind of strong choices she implied in her dialogue. This is very problematic, because the need to portray her as a strong and educated character does not make sense if she is just to be reduced to a one-dimensional love interest. It was unfair to overlook her growth while constantly trying to develop Sheheryar who, in retrospect, was just a garden-variety actor who eventually gets his big break.
However, the wonderful comic relief was brought to the plot by Arshad (Ahmed Ali Butt), Shabbo (Zara Noor Abbas), and Farida (Hina Dilpazeer). One huge plus point, was the music, produced by Azan Sami Khan. The songs were refreshing and catchy, combined with striking visuals. There were also several cameo appearances by eminent faces like Meera, Fawad Khan, Soniya Jahan, and Mahira Khan, and they also showcased a Parsi wedding between Tanaaz (Rachel Vicajji) and Rustom (Faheem Azam). But these minor details failed to counterbalance the stark problems in the script and the production.
If you are into the desi shaadi culture, and don’t feel bloated by the transient bustle of people and music, then you certainly are in for a treat, times four! “Parey Hut Love” can currently be watched in theatres all over Pakistan.
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