Red Sea Film Festival: Shabana Azmi, Jemima Khan talk assisted marriages in film

Writerdirector Jemima Khan said she wanted to challenge preconceptions that a lot of people in the West have about arranged marriages when she tackled her first script for the movie Whats Love Got To Do With It which opened the Red Sea International Film Festival this weekI had wanted to make a film that showed Pakistan in a more colourful and hospitable and positive light than perhaps we usually see in our screens in the West said Khan who lived in the country for a decade after marrying her former husband Imran Khan a Pakistani politician and cricketerIt was very much a lament of friends of mine in Lahore when I lived there that the only films that win awards in the West are the ones that denigrate their countrySpeaking at Deadlines Red Sea Studios with the films actors Shabana Azmi and Sajal Aly Khan added that her preconceptions about the concept of arranged marriages shifted after she spent time in PakistanI saw a lot of very successful arranged marriages reports DeadlineShe added Thats not to say that there isnt a big difference with a forced marriage and the unhappy examples but Im talking about the majority which are done consensually which are therefore often happyAlso ReadShabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar find the right wordsWhats Love Got To Do With It stars Lily James as a documentary filmmaker and dating app addict whose eyes are soon opened to the potential of an arranged marriage when her childhood friend Kaz Shazad Latif heads to Lahore to marry a stranger chosen by his parentsI am not dismissive of it at all because Ive seen it working Azmi said of the subjectAnd of course it did surprise me a lot I do think that there is some virtue in parents understanding that having similar backgrounds particularly very strong cultural backgrounds is a strong base to put something together In the film we say you walk into marriage you fall into loveThe film reunites Azmi with director Shekhar Kapur after the duo worked together on Kapurs first film Masoom in 1983It was very rewarding for me to see that we were coming back after so long and it didnt seem like there had been a gap at all said the Bollywood starI must say that the reason that I jumped at the film is because Shekhar rang me up and said Listen this is very good scriptThe trio of actors spoke about colourblind casting and their belief that opportunities for women in the film world are finally starting to expandIn the drama side girls and females are leading the drama side in Pakistan said AlyAlso ReadRed Sea Festival Sharon Stone gasps she cant believe shes next to SRKWhen pressed about their thoughts on the sophomore edition of the Red Sea Film Festival Azmi remarked that she thought it was fabulous that cinema was opening up in Saudi Arabia and was happy that the festival was leading it with a view on inclusivityShabana who has been critical of the Saudi regime in the past said there was obviously a debate to be had about the other more problematic issuesBut I dont think that concerns art and culture she addedIt would be disingenuous of me not to add that I have been critical of the Saudi regime in the past and about their human rights abuses but I really believe there have been huge changes in the last five years and I really hope that continuesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever