Of all the films releasing this Eid, Parey Hut Love was probably the most hyped. Everything about the film – cast, set, costumes, locations – was larger than life and the cast of the film promoted it to death. So much so that even if you weren’t interested in the film, you’d still want to see what it is all about.
Naturally, that raises expectations and that’s when things begin to go down. I entered the cinema excited and left the cinema deflated because the film did not match up to my expectations and what I had been promised.
To begin with, there was no story and half an hour into the film, I had figured out the plot. Parey Hut Love is the story of Sheheryar (Munawar), a commitment-phobic struggling actor who meets Saniya (Maya Ali) at a family wedding. The two spend time together and fall in love. Saniya, who lives in Turkey heads back with the promise that the two will keep in touch. However, Sheheryar’s phone is stolen and Saniya thinks that he has ditched her and is heartbroken. The rest of the film follows the duo as they find their way back to each other despite almost getting hitched to other people.
The entire film was just lots of beautiful wedding scenes put together with many of the scenes inspired by Bollywood movies. You will find references from Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Hum Tum and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani and even from the Hollywood film Dear Rosie. I personally felt the plot was heavily borrowed from Dear Rosie and Hum Tum.
There was no flow of scenes and some of them, like Mahira’s entry, were so abrupt that it took you a while to put things together and figure out what was going on. It’s like the makers forgot that they had a story to tell.
Parey Hut Love belonged to Sheheryar and Sheheryar only. His character was the only one which was given attention and developed properly while the rest of the movie was rushed. Sheheryar and Saniya’s love story was poorly written. Maya barely had any dialogues and she was a little more than a showpiece.
Zara Noor Abbas and Ahmed Ali Butt were wasted in the film and their roles terribly written. Zara is a talented actor and her comic timing is brilliant which is why I honestly felt upset with the way she was presented. I wish she had more screentime and her character had been more developed because she lit up the screen every time she came on. Also, why wasn’t her styling given the same amount of importance as Maya? While Maya breezed through the film in one gorgeous outfit after another, Zara’s outfits and looks were lazily done. The makeup was also a letdown – the lip colours too light and the eyes heavily done. Maya is a stunning actor and she stole the screen in Teefa in Trouble. In Parey Hut Love not so much.
On the flip, the cinematography, especially the ariel shots, locations, costumes, sets were amazing because of which the film was aesthetically very pleasing. The songs were also beautiful. Kudos to Azaan Sami Khan for delivering one stellar track after another and to Nigah Jee for the brilliant choreography. Morey Saiyaan, Ik Pal and Haye Dil Bechara were a treat to watch and frankly the biggest takeaway from the film.
Read more – ‘Parey Hut Love’s Haye Dil Bechara inspired or copied?
Munawar has grown as an actor and honed his talent. He has also worked on his physique and all his hard work showed in the film. Maya could have done much better. Ahmed, Zara and Hina Dilapazeer gave some of the best moments from the film with their impeccable comedy.
The surface of Parey Hut Love was polished till it sparkled while little to no attention was paid to the core – the inside of the film was hollow.
Read more – Sushant Singh Rajput’s ‘Dil Bechara’ leaves you wanting more
Watch our video review:
Note – This article was updated on August 1, 2020. With no new movies hitting cinemas this year due to the COVID-19 lockdown, TV channels are airing their previous releases. Parey Hut Love was 2019’s highest-grossing film.
