Twitter was ablaze with praise for Sarmad Khoosat’s ‘Zindagi Tamasha’, released on YouTube and Vimeo, with netizens expressing their disappointment that they were unable to see the movie on the ‘big screen’.

The move to release the film on these platforms came after years of controversies and delays regarding its big-screen release, which was initially scheduled for March 2022. However, the release was postponed following widespread protests that followed the movie’s limited screening in 2020.

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.

Filmmaker Sarmad Khoosat to release ‘Zindagi Tamasha’ on Aug 4 on YouTube, Vimeo

Now, fans and viewers are praising the film’s content, quality and production, deeming all the drama surrounding it “heartbreaking”.

One viewer called the film “heartfelt”, and a “tragedy” that one could not watch this in the cinema.

Angry viewers questioned what justified the ban for the film. Another called it “brilliant” and a “heartbreaking reflection of everything that’s wrong in our society”.

Prior to its release, Khoosat had released a video on Instagram where he addressed the complications facing the film’s big-screen release, and explained his reasons behind releasing the movie independently on the video platforms.

He acknowledged his monetary loss but said it was important to release the film and to let viewers judge it for themselves.

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.