LONDON, Feb 15 (EW): Being at “What’s Love Got to Do with It?” UK premiere at the Odeon Luxe cinema in London’s Leicester Square, filmmaker and screenwriter Jemima Khan told that she recently brought together two Pakistani friends.
Jemima called herself ‘Mo the Matchmaker’ and said she had been also a good match-maker and recently played part in the relationship arrangement of a Pakistani couple.
Jemima said “I am good at arranging them (arranged marriages), I have arranged a new one. It’s not quite at the marriage stage but it’s going to, it’s going to end in marriage. It’s two Pakistani friends, I have become a crazy megalomaniac when it comes to arranged marriages and now I think I can arrange any marriage,” she added.
Jemima’s directorial debut, for which she is also the producer, was inspired by her time in Pakistan (mainly in Zaman Park, Lahore) during her marriage to former prime minister Imran Khan. She further said arranged marriages were relevant in this day and age and that arranged marriages were good as long as love and understanding were involved. “I think if it’s based on mutual consent and it’s about the people who know you best and love you the most, choosing the right person for you’ I think there is a place for it in the modern world,” she added.
In a recent interview, the screenwriter said she would have “benefited” from being “introduced to suitable candidates” for marriage and that Princess Diana’s marriage to Charles was “essentially arranged”.
Talking about her film “What’s Love Got to Do with It?” the filmmaker said it was of particular concern for her how Lahore, the place where she spent nearly 10 years of her life after marrying Khan, were going to be portrayed in the film.
“It was very important for me to show Lahore in that way, even things like the architecture; I was really fussy about the filming that we did in Lahore. Getting exactly the right building that portrays the most beautiful Lahore that I knew. I think people are more familiar with the gritty, the darker Pakistan, so I was happy to show a lighter Pakistan,” Jemima explained.
She said the reaction and feedback to her film had been “really heart-warming and amazing”. “I am grateful for that. The most important thing for me, outside of my children and my direct family, I think the British Asian and my Pakistani friends’ reaction to the film has been great and the kind response has really touched me. It has meant a lot,” she added.
