Daily Times

‘Parey Hut Love’ is about both love and loss. It is a tale of coming to terms with losing someone you love. The relationship of Sheheryar and Saniya breaks fresh ground on two accounts: its usage of signature Pakistani element of chequered grandiosity to mount a blossoming romance around many seasons, four weddings, and a funeral, and the way it is unforgiving in how it sees Saniya independently making decisions of her life, even if she does not know whether to run towards Sheheryar or away from him.

The film has Sheheryar and Saniya at the centre of its narrative and it gives them enough elbow room to reach an agreement; in this process, it also allows them to chat, flirt and spar just like normal people do. Oftentimes, in life, we are reluctant to make decisions when faced with realities that can change the course of our life. And like many love stories, this is the dilemma of our protagonists’ lives: they fall for each other when their eyes meet for the first time in a wedding based in Karachi and spend the night in an eccentric fashion, bringing the two closer than they could have ever imagined – not knowing that their lives are going to be tied closely for a long, long time.

Much like Imtiaz Ali’s ‘Tamasha’ that laid down the dynamics of a heartbreak better than any movie did in this decade.

In Tamasha, Ranbir Kapoor’s Ved was calm yet vulnerable. He loved Deepika Padukone’s Tara but was afraid to own his love for her because he wanted to thrive in his life, in his career – unaware that he was on the wrong trajectory all the time for Tara was his guiding light, his creative spark.

Oftentimes, in life, we are reluctant to make decisions when faced with realities that can change the course of our life. And like many love stories, this is the dilemma of our protagonists’ lives: they fall for each other when their eyes meet for the first time in a wedding based in Karachi and spend the night in an eccentric fashion, bringing the two closer than they could have ever imagined — not knowing that their lives are going to be tied closely for a long, long time

His heartbreak meant something. His coping mechanism reinvented our vision for love.

Such is our man here: Sheheryar – seemingly tough, well-built and masculine, but tender on the inside, with Notting Hill’s framed poster on his room’s wall. He is a struggling actor and comes from a family of stature, but wants to be something on his own. Saniya is the trigger. A trigger that allows him to stutter and stumble. A trigger that pushes his boundaries. A trigger that challenges him to face the world as a susceptible being and carve his own path. On purpose or unintentionally, she lingers on. Her entries and exits bring valuable life lessons for our hero. And this is why when we see him in a state of bleak emptiness towards the mid of the second half, we gasp with him. We are pained to see him battling loneliness in a city full of boisterous beings and bustling buildings.And this brings me to another important point that screenwriters Asim Raza and Nasir Aslam bring to life: the concept of urban loneliness and our youth’s tendency to make peace with mediocrity.

Sheheryar has his friends, his mother, and his half dad around him all the time; they love him indefinitely. But still he is alone. And that is the essence of living in Karachi: an enchanting city of lights that has enough pockets that are just luminous outside, but empty inside. Sheheryar, our beloved hero, lives in one such pockets – a portion filled with gloom and constant state of unhappiness.

And when Saniya finds him there, she does not have any reason to leave him back there. But again: she has her own life, her own reasons to make some decisions, and her own interests.

She wants to rescue him and gently embrace him with warmth and affection. But, will Sheheryar allow her to do so?

Cinematic victory

This is a film of immense value with a universal storyline that has been used by many filmmakers over the years across the world. But director Asim Raza makes this film his own child and uses colours like confections to mask the impending doom of a relationship. He, with the help of his production designer and directors of photography, creates a resplendent milieu for the four weddings to exquisitely depict the flourishing relationship between Sheheryar and Saniya. The songs also act as narrative devices to let the story unfurl in a spontaneously uplifting way and the end credit section with Balma Bhagora just add light to the day due its refreshing vigour and infectious charm.

On the whole, ‘Parey Hut Love’ is an elegant ode to love and loss. And in this tale, Siddiqui’s portrayal of melancholy is both charming and harrowing, while Ali’s endearing sentiment ably elevates the film’s mood.

Raza turns this love affair into a sweet, absorbing tale, which hits right spots in enough places. His direction is unflinchingly clear-eyed and he combines apt story, sense of place and characters into a convincing whole, that at times finds itself on the edge of the precipice but manages to stay afloat mainly due to its crackling ensemble, making it a striking achievement for the Pakistani cinema.

The writer is a teacher based in Karachi and can be reached at adnan.murad@live.com