Watch Shekhar Kapur’s 'What’s Love Got to Do with It' in theatres this March

The rom-com stars Shabana Azmi, Emma Thompson, Lily James, Shazad Latif and a host of other actors

Shekhar Kapur’s new film features a host of actors including Lily James and Shazad Latif

Adapted from a screenplay written by Jemima Khan, National Award-winning filmmaker Shekhar Kapur’s much talked about British romantic comedy-drama film What’s Love Got to Do with It is now poised for India release. Featuring an ensemble cast - including Shabana Azmi, Emma Thompson, Lily James, Shazad Latif, Sajal Aly, Oliver Chris, Asim Chaudhry, Jeff Mirza and Alice Orr-Ewing - will hit theatres across the country on March 3.

This is seen as a major comeback for the filmmaker - whose last movie Elizabeth: The Golden Age a biographical period drama film starring Cate Blanchett, was released in 2007. A StudioCanal production, What’s Love Got to Do with It had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2022. The film bagged the ‘Best Comedy’ (‘Ugo Tognazzi’) Award at the Rome Film Fest in October last, eventually releasing in the UK this month. Did you know music maestro Rahat Fateh Ali Khan also makes a cameo appearance in the film?

What’s Love Got to Do with It is a cross-cultural romantic comedy, set between London and Lahore. It follows a filmmaker, who documents her childhood friend and neighbour’s arranged marriage to a bride from Pakistan.

Well-known as a filmmaker who makes movies of substance, Shekhar made a mark from his very first directorial venture Masoom - a cult classic that released in 1983, starring Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi. He then went on to make movies like Mr. India (1987), Bandit Queen (1994) and The Four Feathers (2002), among others. In 2017, he directed four episodes of costume drama Will. Shekhar is the winner of a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award and three Filmfare awards.

Speaking about collaborating with Shabana after almost four decades, the filmmaker told Khaleej Times “With Shabana, we started off where we left after Masoom. It never felt that we were out of touch. Sometimes when you are directing, you have to explicitly tell an artiste if they are not following the director’s vision or if you need a certain tweaking in their delivery. But Shabana reads the face and the expressions really well. All it takes is just one gesture and one look! And then, she just picks it up and throws it out of the park. Since Masoom until today, I can sense that her instinct hasn’t changed at all.”

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