Producer and director Sarmad Khoosat said he feels “lighter” following the independent release of ‘Zindagi Tamasha’ on digital platforms.

While expressing his disappointment that the film could not be released in the country, Khoosat, however, clarified that posting the film on YouTube and Vimeo was a cathartic act.

“I feel light about it,” Khoosat said during an interview with BBC Urdu this week.

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

Last month, Khoosat announced his decision to release his film on YouTube and Vimeo, following a series of controversies and delays. In the four weeks since ‘Zindagi Tamasha’ was uploaded, it has amassed nearly 800,000 views and users have posted over 2,800 comments on the YouTube platform alone.

The movie’s release, which was due for March 2022, 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 had said earlier.

At the time, Khoosat admitted that there was a “sense of failure” on the movie being released on digital platforms and not on the big-screen.

“But it’s not just my failure. It’s a failure of the system, of our independent voices not being strong enough,” he had said then in a video message on Instagram.

Now, nearly a month after posting it online and getting rave reviews, Khoosat seemed to have moved on. “I have received so much love and appreciation from audiences — how can I be vengeful or spiteful about it?

“It has been 100% heartwarming. I am not even seeing any abuse in the comments section,” he said during the BBC interview.

Twitter full of praise as Sarmad Khoosat’s ‘Zindagi Tamasha’ out on YouTube, Vimeo

“I did not tell this story out of enmity, nor did I invent the story. The content was picked out from everyday instances around us all.”

Khoosat said the road to the movie’s eventual release has been “long and arduous”.

“Sometimes, the censor certificate was taken back, and sometimes a reissue or review was needed.

“In the beginning, the first screening was for Punjab. And they deemed it ‘adult’ for 18+ people with no cuts. Then, we had a federal review. They didn’t mark it ‘adult’. At no point, from any censor board, was a video deleted, nor was there an objection to any visual scene.

“There was no other censor. Never. Why was I told on the phone that it was not valid?” he asked.

“Show it to me in writing. Give me that letter banning the film.

“We screened the film prior to its release for a fundraising event. Following that, a print of the film was suddenly floating everywhere, on Torrents, YouTube, WhatsApp groups etc.”

That was the final straw for him, he stated. “How could someone release my film for Rs300 on a WhatsApp group, without my permission?

Mahira Khan stresses on financial stability for women, opens up on ‘exceeding expectations’

Khoosat, when asked whether he would consider releasing the film in select provinces, responded, “No. Not at all.

“Consider it stubbornness or irritation, but I don’t need permission from just federal, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, or Sindh. I have one country. I hold a passport from one country. I want the freedom of release in my entire country.

“I do not want to believe that my work is passing through any filters except for my own.”

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.

Khoosat, an actor, director and producer, is best known for his popular drama ‘Humsafar’, starring Pakistani actors Mahira Khan and Fawad Khan.

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.