‘Actor-in-Law’ and ‘Punjab Nahi Jaungi’ set high expectations from Fahad Mustafa and Mehwish Hayat for their now-released film ‘Load Wedding’ which is a light romantic comedy with elements of societal issues thrown into it. As much as the film exuded relatability in some situations and rare moment of impactful acting, it lacked the gripping power that audiences come to cinemas for. However, the film comes with its fair share of both strengths and weaknesses that strike a chord with some and might fail to attract others. STRENGTHS – one has to hand it over to Nabeel Qureshi for executing his vision for the film with praiseworthy direction techniques that makes it hard to believe it’s a Lollywood film, considering direction is always the weak point of films coming out of Pakistan. Some serious hard work and passion has been put in by the director to make the film at par with international standards and the movement of the camera coupled with strong visuals and capture of village life engages the audience and impresses a critic. The tracks of ‘Load Wedding’ are also the strongest points of the film. Songs like “Rangeya” and “Kuch na karein” are beautiful – well composed, well-sung and well-written. The music arrangements and the lyrics are impressive. They have been written by Shani Arshad and sung by Mulazim Hussain. The picturisation is strong as well, as I mentioned earlier, Nabeel Qureshi seems to have captured the rural and village life perfectly well. If you do buy your ticket to see ‘Load Wedding’, watch it only for the soulful tracks which are brilliant, Qureshi’s direction and Faiza Hassan’s acting Issues like domestic and societal problems are executed well. They are relatable and quite realistic in today’s time of a “modern” Pakistan. A boy get getting permission to marry of choice owing to an insecure mother and sister, a mother not being able to wed her daughter off because of insufficient funds for dowry, a widowed girl considered to be bad luck in the village, a chubby girl constantly getting body shamed. ‘Load Wedding’ portrayed these issues well and in good humour and an impact. Samina Ahmed and Faiza Hassan are brilliant in their acting and deserve a special mention here. Their comic timing and relatability is what gets the audience roaring with laughter. It’s the first time I saw Faiza Hassan acting and I am a fan already. The girl is going places for sure! WEAKNESSES – the story and the script is really weak. The plot of the film needed to be strong to engage the audience well. The film seems like a narration of events only. Had the storyline and the script been strong along with the screenplay, one would’ve been curious to know what happens next. Everything seems haphazard and there are no surprises anywhere. Fahad Mustafa and Mehwish Hayat fail to deliver as powerful and impactful actors. Their acting is unconvincing, flat and unrelatable. One definitely expected more from Mustafa as he has a strong screen presence and has delivered well in all his previous projects but in ‘Load Wedding’, it was painful to see his expressionless face in every scene. A woman whose husband dies the night of her wedding, needs to show signs of depression or at least mourning. Here is a woman who wears waterproof makeup and colourful lawn suits every day after her husband dies, also not forgetting to play with the village children half her age, every chance she gets. This just seemed wrong and everybody in the audience was heard asking each other, “Did her husband really die?” I would save the ending for all those interested in watching it. If you do buy your ticket to see ‘Load Wedding’, watch it only for the soulful tracks which are brilliant, Qureshi’s direction and Faiza Hassan’s acting. Published in Daily Times, August 20th 2018.