Sarmad Khoosat’s directorial, Zindagi Tamasha has been talk of the town for quite some time. The film has even won international recognition after winning the Kim Ji Seok Award at Busan International Film Festival. Recently, the film’s trailer was removed from YouTube, which raised concerns about the theatrical release of the film. However, all our doubts have been cleared as Sarmad just officially announced its release date.
During a live digital session happening right now, Sarmad revealed the reason behind the removal of the film’s trailer from YouTube and its release date.
“Zindagi Tamasha will hit the theaters across Pakistan on 24th January, 2020,” Sarmad announced. “I admit that Khoosat Films removed the trailer from its YouTube channel as a few concerns were raised about the content of our film. Unfortunately, we have to condense the subject of a film in a few minutes for the trailer and hence, sometimes it doesn’t reflect the larger picture. There were a few conflicts about some dialogues and after minor deletions the trailer will again be uploaded soon.”
Read: Sarmad Khoosat’s Zindagi Tamasha lauded at Busan International Film Festival
Showcasing the bleak reality of Pakistan’s society, the film narrates the story of Rahat (played by Arif Hassan), a naat khawan who enjoys celebrity status amongst his community in the old city of Lahore. He is a devout Muslim and hence his peers deem it unforgivable when Rahat falters. And then one day a video of him goes viral and even his own daughter, Sadaf (played by Eman Suleman), feels ashamed of him.
“Film making is a complex art form but I want to clarify that I had no ill intentions or hard feelings about anyone while I was making this film. I have sincerely told a story without any intention of hurting any sentiments,” he furthered.
Sarmad also shared that Zindagi Tamasha got clearance from all three censor boards of Pakistan i.e. Federal, Punjab and Sindh boards in October 2019, but they recently reviewed it again.
“Due to the concerns brought to our attention, we were called for a review recently and after minor cuts, the film has been cleared for release. The Federal censor board has given it an adult rating due to the language spoken, which was kept that way due to the realistic approach of the film. However, in Sindh and Punjab, we got a universal certificate,” he added.
“I had no reservations; in fact I happily agreed to the changes and cuts. I am excited that the film is about to hit theaters,” he said.
The film stars Arif Hassan, Samiya Mumtaz, Ali Kureshi and Eman Suleman in pivotal roles. Sarmad also makes a cameo in the film.
You can watch the live session here:
