Sarmad Khoosat's 'Zindagi Tamasha' teases intriguing social drama

Film stars Arif Hasan as a 'naat khawan,' sidelined by society after a video of him goes viral

Earlier last month, film-maker Sarmad Khoosat took to social media to announce that his upcoming film, Zindagi Tamasha, will be screening at the prestigious Busan Film Festival soon. It will have its premiere at the same platform too.

And now, finally, the trailer for the upcoming drama has been released at a press conference held in Lahore and attended by Khoosat and the cast, which includes Ali Qureshi, Arif Hasan, Eman Suleman and Imran Khoosat.

Kanwal Khoosat, the producer and IMGC's Sheikh Abid were also present on the occasion.

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Hasan, who plays a naat khwaan named Rahat in Zindagi Tamasha,  enjoys a celebrity status amongst his community in the old city of Lahore. He is a devout Muslim; someone who, in the eyes of everyone else, is almost super-humanly incapable of any sacrilege. Hence, when he does wrong, there is no forgiveness for him. Rahat and his family get sidelined by society after a video of him goes viral on social media.

Suleman plays Sadaf, Rahat's daughter in the film. Talking about her role, the model-turned-actor shared that the way the story is, it was very difficult for any artist to play it. However, Khoosat's hard work and vision made it easy.

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Khoosat shared that Zindagi Tamaasha was made with the background of political and social situations wherein major traits of Pakistani society have been depicted. "The topic of the film is sensitive but I have spoken the truth and one doesn't fear when speaking the truth," he said.

Khoosat added that the film is a reference to Khwaja Pervez's famous song Zindagi Tamasha Bani, written for the old film Naukri Vodi Da. The Manto director clarified that he had acquired legal rights for the aforementioned song.


Zindagi Tamasha has been censored and will be released in Jan 2020. "It has been revolving around a topic which was much-needed. It will likely stay with the audience for long," said Sheikh Abid.

The background and music of the film has been prepared by Islamabad-based band, Saakin.

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