The Irony: A Review of “Parey Hut Love”

By: Sabeeh Ahmad

Pakistani Cinema has seen its fair share of ups and downs over the years. From the time when the cinema culture dominated Lahore and then fell into disarray, to the time when Shaan single-handedly brought it out of it, and yet again to the time when it found its abode in Karachi after another period of underperformance (Not saying that the movies Shaan starred in were acceptable, to say the least). Although the cameras have moved from low resolution ones to Arri Alexas, and the technology has changed about as much, the irony has still found its way into this ‘Modern Wave’ of Pakistani Cinema, or so it is called.

But is it really modern, let alone a wave?

‘Parey Hut Love’ was supposed to be the ultimate “good” film. I mean, what more can you ask for from a director’s point of view? The film had a HUGE budget, offshore filming locations, cameras and the latest equipment, and all the faces that dominate the cinema scene nowadays starting in it. They even got some high-profile actors to do a cameo in the film (read: Fawad Khan’s absolutely nonsensical role and outdated dialogues). There was absolutely no excuse for the film to not do financially well on the box office. Despite all this, however, the film has managed to disappoint me and countless others in more ways than one can imagine.

People went in crowds to support ‘Our Pakistani Cinema’ because ‘India ko paise kiun dein’. It was Eid, and Bollywood movies were banned, and the Kashmir issue was at its peak. Our nationalistic feelings were overflowing. But did that warrant the watching of 2.5 hours of boredom and cringeworthy moments thrown at us from a screen?

The lead characters meet for the first time after YEARS and I know that flirting is normal but like, whatever the hell they were doing on screen was definitely not flirting. Cringeworthy dialogues coupled with the most unconvincing body language in the first 15 minutes of the movie made people wonder as to what the filmmakers were thinking when releasing this pathetic excuse of a movie. The first sequence, without a reason, leads to the actors leaving for an AdVeNturoU$ trip on a red scooter. No surprises there.

The entire movie was filled with songs having no point at all. I mean I get that good music adds to the overall tone of the movie, but it should also go with the bloody tone in the first place. You can’t just create good songs and add them to random points in the movie. Or just hire famous actresses in a special appearance in a song to hide the fact that you don’t have a coherent script.

The final nail in the coffin has to be the brand placements that DESTROY the experience for a moviegoer. An actress can’t just be sad and open a bottle of coke and place it at an angle so that ‘Coca-Cola’ is visible in the center. A person CANNOT just call and stand at an angle so that the whole ‘JS Bank’ can be seen in the background.

All in all, Asim Raza needs to understand that when he decided to direct movies, he should’ve left the advertisement industry behind him even if it has been his livelihood for quite some time. A movie is not a medium for brand placement, that is what advertisements are for. He really needs to stop hiding his lack of directorial skills and incoherent screenplays behind the veil of good songs and dance sequences. He really needs to understand that the audience is no longer the same as it was when he entered the show business. This kind of work will get him money for some time to come, but not for long because the very perception of cinema is changing. He really needs to understand that people like him are the reason the irony I mentioned before has managed to be relevant after all this time. The movies he makes revolve around specified gender roles to an extent and cliché, over-the-top portrayal of love coupled with cringeworthy dialogues and an outdated depiction of romance, and this very irony needs to be finished. And if he cannot do all this, all he really needs to do is look for a new line of work because this just not for him.



Note: All opinions expressed by the writer are his own, not the society’s.