All the world’s a stage and Sarmad Khoosat is a man who commands respect, whether he is standing on television, film or the proscenium arch, as director or actor. He’s an artiste who understands literature, giving it its due respect before presenting it to the public. This is just one reason why one has been anticipating the release of Zindagi Tamasha, Sarmad’s return to cinema since Manto (2015). Manto was controversial enough, but Zindagi Tamasha, with its social commentary on certain taboo subjects, takes the bravado a level further. Will it get clearance from the censor board’s unforgiving clippers? That is the question on everyone’s mind, especially since Zindagi Tamasha’s official trailer, released on September 30, has been removed from YouTube.
The film which has won international recognition by winning at the Busan International Film Festival, revolves around the life of a naat khuan Mohammad Rahat Khwaja, who is ostracized by society and his family after an ‘objectionable’ private video goes viral. As a result, Sadaf, Mohammad’s daughter, also severs ties with her father. The filmmaker describes it as “an intimate portrait of a family as well as a scorching political commentary on little gods on this earth, who police our private passions.â€
Written by Nirmal Bano, The 2-minute 24-second trailer (which is no more available on YouTube) had many hard-hitting dialogues that will force a viewer to think twice about society’s double standards and how judgmental and prejudiced it is. Judging by the subject of the film, it was expected that Zindagi Tamasha will be subject to a lot of commentary and we wonder whether it will see the light of day in Pakistan or not?
The film features Arif Hassan, Eman Suleman, Samiya Mumtaz and Ali Kureshi in pivotal roles. It is scheduled for a January 2020 release, although no date has been confirmed yet. We look forward to see it in the theaters soon.
