Examining Marriage Across Cultures In ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It?’

The film What’s Love Got to Do With It? in many ways follows the tried and true beats of romantic comedy, complete with the frustrations of dating, meddling relatives, and an ostensibly platonic pairing.

However, what is unique about this outing is how all that action happens within the context of the character Kaz deciding he wants to get an arranged marriage, and his friend Zoe finding the idea of that both baffling and fascinating. In fact, Zoe finds this whole situation so novel that she decides to make this chapter in Kaz’s life the subject of her new documentary.

But indeed this institution, called “assisted marriage” by some in the film, is in real life actively practiced and supported by many, older and younger, from east to west. So, likely aiming to meet its multicultural audience where they are, the film approaches the subject with a balanced respect. But, at the same time, the film’s director, Shekhar Kapur, is focused on making the point that none of this is all that different from what people have always done.

“Unfortunately arranged marriage has been consigned to Asians, and they say ‘Oh, these are the people that do arranged marriage.’ It’s like something alien,” said Kapur in my interview with him. “But…which culture doesn’t have it?”

He brings up the example of someone trying to set their recently broken up friend on a blind date to to assist in their need for companionship, and makes the point that this is the same principle behind arranged marriage. Family and friends are always looking out for their loved ones and seeking to aid in their journey for companionship. This has been core to human beings from the start, and so “assisted marriage” is nothing new.

On the flip side though, the film also turns to examine Zoe’s pursuit of companionship in a perhaps more modern-traditional method. We follow Zoe, played by Lily James, through her endless scroll through dating apps, what Kapur calls an addiction, and see her series of unfortunate encounters. And it’s through this lens that the film compares and contrasts these two very different approaches to finding a partner.

Zoe is adamant about finding love and “the one,” but is seemingly overwhelmed by the number of options and perhaps is pushing people away despite their good qualities. Kaz looks up to positive examples of arranged marriage in his family as proof that this works, but then ultimately faces the reality that he barely knows the woman he’s paired with, and what secrets she keeps.

Through all this realization the two characters come to further consider the other side, without ever calling out one as clearly wrong or right. And thus they also open up a great amount to each other.

Shazad Latif, who plays Kaz in the film, is also familiar with arranged marriages in his personal life. Part Pakistani himself, he mentions to me catching up with an uncle recently who always eagerly tries to get him married along these lines. Though he does note that even that uncle has been changing his views on how all this works, with time.

That is, in reality how any of this works in any cultural background is nuanced, and it’s that nuance that Latif hopes to see more of when South Asian stories are shown on screen. He mentions in the past playing characters off in outer space or steeped in genre conventions. But here, he enjoys playing something more grounded, and how that can help push forward representation on screen and make progress for both performers and those watching them.

“I mean when I was younger I didn’t see many people [on screen] that looked like me, so hopefully the more we do it the more it happens,” said Latif to me in an interview. “There’s definitely progress…we had it in Yesterday, we had The Big Sick. This is another one, part of that family. And Riz [Ahmed] and Dev [Patel], Himesh [Patel], all these boys that are trying to open the doors for the next generation.”

Latif suggests that there is a sort of statistical guarantee here: the more that South Asian stories get produced, the more nuanced and detailed newer writers will bring their scripts to be. He says he would find it hard to believe, even five years ago, that he would ever play the lead in a romantic comedy in this way. But to him this is just a sign of how things are changing, and hope for progress ahead.

For this film itself, while the plot may eventually land in just about where you’d expect for a romantic comedy, it actually does not come away with one set answer on being for or against the institution of arranged marriage or dating apps. And that may have been part of why director Shekhar Kapur agreed to take on this story when he got the script.

“It [the script] was full of things that were unanswered,” said Kapur. “It’s for the actors of the film to either discover what it means, or offer the choice to the audience. Now you tell us what it means.”

Indeed the twists and turns of the plot weave us through the benefits and downsides of both ways to do all this, showing us where the processes can be heartwarming and where they can be heartbreaking. And after that emotional journey ends and our characters close out on a happy note, the film leaves the final decision in our hands, confident that we may make any decisions on our own.

What’s Love Got to Do With It? comes to theaters nationwide on May 5th. The film stars Lily James, Shazad Latif, and Emma Thompson and is directed by Shekhar Kapur.

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