What a fun silly movie! One of those nice “nothing really matters that much and we aren’t taking it seriously” kind of movies. Don’t watch it if you want high quality and deep thoughts, but it is super fun if you just want sunshine and silliness!

This isn’t really a good movie. Not because it is silly, but because it is not that good. The camerawork is kind of dull, the heroine only has two costume changes, there are plots that get a bit dropped, and the romance is more of a straight line than an interesting curvy tangle. Also, only two songs, and the hero isn’t at that level of shockingly jaw droppingly unbelievably handsome that I have come to expect from my Pakistani film heroes. On the other hand, the plot is delightfully happy, the leads have decent chemistry, the two songs and two costumes we have are both good, and there is a kind of effervescent air of joy about it that is hard to resist and nice to inhale.

Part of that joy is because it is filmed in Mauritius. This movie is 100% upfront about being a vacation fantasy for the characters and the audience. It plays like a 2 hour “visit Mauritius!” ad. But Mauritius looks really nice! And if I am escaping into a movie, why would I want to see boring old houses and jobs and stuff? Much better to see pretty beaches, open air markets, and gorgeous hotels.

In the same way, the hero and heroine are simple stereotypes. She is a strong loudmouthed Indian girl, he is a cool international Pakistani dude. It’s easy, you turn your brain off and enjoy their interactions, no need to stress about backstories or complexities.

As for the plot, it is excellent. It’s a less than 2 hour movie, so there isn’t the need for a lot of depth, instead the plot focuses on clever twists and surprising moments. It’s one of those plots that you just enjoy telling other people about because it all fits together so well.

So, if you have 90 minutes to kill (really, remove the opening and closing credits, and it’s more like an hour and a half movie), and want to see pretty images of Mauritius and clever plotting, and a guy who isn’t Pakistani Film Actor handsome but is, like, American TV Show handsome, and love Sana Saeed and want to see her play a happy character for once, this is for you.

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Mohib Mirza is a taxi driver and tour guide in Mauritius. He is trying to raise money to pay a local woman for a “paper marriage” so he can stay in the country, but don’t worry about that plot point, it kind of disappears. He meets Sana Saeed at the airport where she has just arrived from India with her new husband Adeel Hashmi. Adeel is South African but spends a lot of time in Mauritius, Sana and he met online and quickly married, this is their honeymoon. At the hotel, strange men show up looking for Adeel. He leaves, and then send someone to take Sana and his bag back to the airport. At the airport, Sana opens the bag and discovers drugs, freaks out, rushes outside to see Mohib and his taxi waiting and begs him for help.

There are two great interesting ideas already. First, that the humble cab driver, part of so many airport drama scenes, gets to be the hero. And second, that the woman isn’t running away from a marriage but rather abandoned on her honeymoon.

These ideas don’t need to be explored exactly, we don’t have to learn the larger social implications or any of that, they can just be fun little things for the audience to enjoy. And the movie keeps throwing those fun things at us, the joking conversations about Pakistani men versus Indian women, the silly stereotypes of drug deals that get them in trouble, the many many exciting chase scenes.

The movie goes forward in a fairly predictable manner, of course Mohib will be initially reluctant to help and then convinced, of course he and Sana will bicker and then become friends, of course she will appear suddenly beautiful and they will fall in love (interesting, she is beautiful when she drops her Indian Salwar look and puts on what I think of as a Pakistani look of a formal jumpsuit and pearls). In the end, of course the hero will try to sacrifice himself and send her away, of course she will come back anyway, and of course they will admit their love.

But along the way there is a lot of fun to be had! Like, when Mohib initially considers leaving Sana and walks into a wall of film posters that inspire him to be a hero, ending of course with Maula Jatt. Or when Sana threatens to fight Adeel’s other wife who they find while searching for him. And of course, the fight scenes are always a kick. So long as you manage to ignore that nagging voice in your head which says “But, why would a taxi driver know how to fight off 5 goons?”

The ending is very tidy, all the threads pulled together. In a way that makes the world seem reasonable and safe, and also makes me want to visit Mauritius. Turns out, the police knew everything all along and if Sana and Mohib had simply trusted them, it could have been solved ages back. Adeel tricks young innocent women into marrying him so he can use them as mules. The police were watching the airport and ready to tell Sana the truth and help her when she ran away, thinking they were trying to arrest her. She kept running and running from the police and Adeel, finally Mohib and the police link up, they have a carefully coordinated take down of Adeel, which Sana interrupts thinking Mohib is out of his depth, Mohib is shot but he is wearing a bullet proof vest and is fine. It’s not ridiculous or unbelievable, it’s nice and sane and sensible and a world where the rules make sense and the people in charge know what they are doing and everything is good.

That’s the thing about this movie, everything is good! Yes, there are fake husbands who lie to you and drug dealers and all of that. But the police are on your side, random taxi drivers could be your true love, and your family isn’t even all that upset when your marriage falls apart.