Sarmad Khoosat will release his long-awaited film ‘Zindagi Tamasha’ on August 4 through the YouTube and Vimeo platforms after a series of controversies and delays, the filmmaker announced on Instagram on Thursday.
In a video on Instagram, Khoosat addressed the complications facing the film’s big-screen release, and explained his reasons behind releasing the movie independently on the video platforms.
“It’s a kind of negligence, so congratulations to them. There is only one wish, so we will continue to do it. Some dil ki baat about ‘Zindagi Tamasha’,” he wrote.
Khoosat admitted that there was a “loss” and “sense of failure” in the move.
“There is a sense of loss, and it’s not just mine. It shouldn’t be just mine,” said Khoosat in the video message. “There is a sense of failure but it’s not just my failure. It’s a failure of the system, of our independent voices not being strong enough.
“As a responsible and respectable citizen, I tried everything in my control to adhere to the requisite to administration and legalities. I followed procedure and even then ‘Zindagi Tamasha’ suffered an unfair fate.”
His remarks looked to address the delay in the movie’s release, which was due for March 2022. However, the release was postponed following widespread protests that followed the movie’s limited screening in 2020. Khoosat subsequently filed a petition in a Lahore court for “trying to interfere into the smooth running, public screening/releasing” of ‘Zindagi Tamasha’.
Despite receiving clearance from all three censor boards in Pakistan, the movie continued to face hurdles in its big-screen release, the filmmaker said.
Produced by Khoosat Films, ‘Zindagi Tamasha’ was selected as Pakistan’s entry for the Best International Feature Film for the 93rd Academy Awards. It premiered at the 24th Busan International Film Festival in October 2019 under the section ‘A Window on Asian Cinema’ where it won the Kim Ji-Seok Award.
It also won the Snow Leopard Award for Best Film and Best Actor for Arif Hassan at the Asian World Film Festival held in Los Angeles in March 2021.
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Khoosat said he will suffer monetary loss, but moving on after four years was what “he was doing now”.
“It’s been four years, and there’s only so much I can do. In Punjabi, there’s a phrase that says ‘mitti pao’ and that’s just what I’m doing now.
“It is now not possible to have a collective cinematic experience for a story which was meant to be yours, and meant to be experienced by you.
“This story will now be received through YouTube,” said Khoosat, adding that he has also included a director’s cut on Vimeo.
“In the YouTube description box, there will be a link in case you want to support artistic independence and a small production house. Please contribute if you want to,” he said.
‘Zindagi Tamasha’ was directed and co-produced by Sarmad Khoosat and Kanwal Khoosat and written by Nirmal Bano. It features Arif Hassan, Eman Suleman, Samiya Mumtaz and Ali Kureshi. The film is set in Lahore and follows the story of a religious elderly man who is caught in a maelstorm when a video of him dancing at a wedding unwittingly gets uploaded on social media.
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Khoosat, an actor, director and producer, is best known for his popular drama ‘Humsafar’.
Last year he also released the critically acclaimed ‘Kamli’, and also produced ‘Joyland’, Pakistan’s official entry for the Oscars and winner of the Jury Prize as well as the Queer Palm at the Cannes Film Festival.