Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s children’s mother Jemima Khan’s upcoming film brought tears to her eyes.
The film, “What’s Love Got to Do With It?”, is a cross-cultural romantic comedy that Jemima uses to portray a different and better side of Pakistan – not the “horrible” one.
Talking to JEE News about the upcoming film, the filmmaker said that he showed the film to his children, who are also his “biggest” critics.
“His reaction has been the highlight of my entire experience because he’s not a rom-com lover and he doesn’t like those types of films and he’s my biggest critic.”
“Obviously, they’re half Pakistani Muslim kids, so whether they like it or not, that was very important to me.”
“I got them to watch it [the film] and […] at the end of it, I saw them cry a little bit and I heard them laugh and they said ‘Mom, we love you so much. Pride.’, Jemima revealed.
“And I think, they knew how hard I worked on it. I literally thought, oh well, even if nobody likes it, this is a moment I’m proud of.”
Inspiration
Talking about her inspiration behind the film, Jemima said that she wanted to show the world another side of Pakistan.
“I wanted to show the colorful, beautiful, happy place that I knew when I was in Pakistan because unlike the Pakistan we often see on Western screens,” the filmmaker said.
“You often know that in movies like Zero Dark Thirty and Homeland you portray Muslims and Pakistanis as villains and Pakistan as a really scary, dark place.”
“And so I got the chance to make a romantic comedy version of Pakistan, the working title film that was invested in a rom-com, with a beautiful cast with Sajal Ali, a beautiful Pakistani actress. And there’s India’s very talented Shabana Azmi, Mutlaq Devi and Lily James who’s brilliant, and Emma Thompson, Shahzad Latif, and others.
Jemima shared that one of the best things she has learned in Pakistan is to believe in “neet” (intention) and hopes that Pakistanis judge her film through their “neet”. will aim to present them as “ordinary people and not”. Terrible creature”.
