Load Wedding seems to have managed a pleasant balance between making a film that is socially relevant while being equally entertaining.
Filmmakers Nabeel Qureshi and Fizza Ali Meerza are now veritable box office darlings. With Na Maloom Afraad and Actor in Law, they’ve delivered two extremely successful films and even though Na Maloom Afraad 2 didn’t manage to match the excellence of its predecessor (in my opinion), it was a super success nevertheless. The director-producer duo, with just three films, has managed to establish a reputation for their brand of filmmaking and they appear to be hitting it out of the park – once again – with the upcoming Load Wedding.
The official theatrical trailer for Load Wedding released Tuesday night and it is intriguing for a number of reasons. This is the first time that Nabeel Qureshi has moved out of his apparent comfort zone of making Karachi-centric movies and has taken a trip to Punjab. The protagonist, Raju – played by Fahad Mustafa – is a village simpleton in love with his childhood crush, Meeru – played by Mehwish Hayat - who appears to be a polio worker. Just to begin with, Fahad and Mehwish have fantastic chemistry and look good together.
She seems to be more qualified than him but that isn’t the problem in their love story; the problem is that his mother won’t even hear his plea for marriage until his elder sister gets married. What is a man to do in such a situation?
Load Wedding has loads of colour and its vibrancy in portraying lush green, picturesque Punjab is what has some people comparing it to Punjab Nahi Jaungi. Personally, I feel they are nothing alike beyond the choice of location. Fahad Mustafa is back to portraying the awami hero after his parallel stint as the uber rich and debonair character in Jawani Phir Nahi Ani 2 (parallel because both films release on the same day) and joining him is Mehwish Hayat, who looks fresh-faced and gorgeous. I also love that she’s more qualified than him and that this time it’s the heroine who plants a tight chapair (slap) on the hero’s cheek. We’re all essentially against any form of violence but then we’ve seen too much female oppression and regression in films and any form or level of relief is welcome.
What’s also welcome is the fact, and I hope I’m not speaking too soon, is the fact that Load Wedding seems to have managed to strike a pleasant balance between making a film that is socially relevant while being equally entertaining. Former productions have struggled with this balance; films have been either too heavy and depressing (Bol, Zinda Bhaag), too mindless (Wrong No, Mehrunisa V Lub U) or successful because of a guaranteed, rom-com formula (Jawani Phir Nahi Ani, Punjab Nahi Jaungi). We’ve seen artistically solid films like Moor, Shah, Cake and Motorcycle Girl get the critical acclaim but they haven’t been box office gold. Nabeel Qureshi has somewhat mastered the ‘socially relevant yet entertaining’ genre and he lives up to expectations with Load Wedding.
It’s not easy to be relevant and entertaining, without being satirical, all at the same time and maybe Fahad Mustafa’s character is slightly stereotypical, slightly satiric. But the storyline, which appears to point a critical finger at the regressive dowry system, is a subject close to most of Pakistan. The pressure of marrying off daughters and sending them off with enough dowry to keep the in-laws happy, has been the basis of too much domestic violence and oppression in this part of the world. We’ve seen Bollywood tackle this subject through the eighties and the ailing father, overworked mother and jawan beti syndrome has been subject of one film too many but it, so far, hasn’t been taken up in these times, erroneously leading us to believe the dowry system doesn’t exist anymore. It does, as Load Wedding reminds us.
To balance the weight of the heavy subject is a light, fun-filled soundtrack, romance and the kind of comedy that’ll make us laugh instead of cringe. To see a parody of Aamir Liaquat on his game show is every Aamir Liaquat critic’s dream come true.
With Fahad Mustafa and Mehwish Hayat onboard – these actors are also box office gold - Nabeel and Fizza have a certified hit in Load Wedding; expectations have risen monumentally with the trailer and I would, personally, position it as the strongest of the three films releasing on Eid ul Azha. Jawani Phir Nahi Ani 2 is inclined to be a bigger box office hit but I have a feeling that Load Wedding will win on content and critical acclaim. Parwaaz Hai Junoon, the third and last addition to Eid releases, will need some serious fuel injection to fly higher than the first two.
Eid ul Azha promises to be thrilling.
