Why is Sarmad Khoosat’s controversial film ‘Zindagi Tamasha’ delayed again?

Pakistani filmmaker, Sarmad Khoosat’s much-awaited Zindagi Tamasha has been delayed again.

As confirmed by Khoosat himself, the Arif Hassan and Eman Suleman starrer will no longer be releasing in the anticipated Friday slot. A new release date is yet to be announced, much to the dismay of a thoroughly enticed Pakistani audience that was all geared up to show the film its due share of love.

With a script revolving around Rahat, a beloved, devout Muslim who is a naat Khawan, the film zeroes in on the protagonist losing the support of his community after a video featuring him goes viral, causing shame to befall upon him and his family. 

The fact that the cast and crew of Zindagi Tamasha have already experienced exhausting turbulence with regards to the release of the film is public knowledge. Despite the Senate Committee for Human Rights approving the screening of the film, its 2020 release became a looming question mark after Tehreek-e-Labbaik (TLP) took offense with the content of the film, calling for protests against its release. 

Earlier it was supposed to release on March 18, 2022 in Pakistani cinemas after a widely speculated controversy with religious elements involved due to which it was barred to be screened earlier.

The production company Khoosat Films released a trailer of the film on YouTube, showing its new release date.

The cast of the movie includes Arif Hassan, Eman Suleman, Samiya Mumtaz, and Ali Kureshi.

The official synopsis states: “The film is an intimate portrait of a family as well as a scorching political commentary on little gods on this earth who police our private passions.”

The film was directed and co-produced by Sarmad Khoosat and written by Nirmal Bano

Zindagi Tamasha was screened at Busan International Film Festival(BIFF) in 2019 where it won the prestigious award titled Kim Ji-Seok Award. It also received an award at the 6th Asian World Film Festival in the category of Snow Leopard Award for Best Film at the 6th Asian World Film Festival (AWFF) in 2021.

The film was also the official entry from Pakistan for the 93rd Academy Awards in the category of International Feature Film Award however, it failed to qualify to a list of 15 International feature films.

The film got into trouble last year when Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) called for protests against its release claiming that it contains blasphemous content.

In January 2020, the Humsafar fame director wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan, President Dr Arif Alvi, Chief Justice of Pakistan, Chief of the Army Staff, and Minister for Information in which he detailed the problems his film was facing in its release.

Khoosat filed a petition against TLP in Lahore High Court for interfering in the release of the film however, he canceled to release of the film last year amidst the threats.

Last year, Senate Committee for Human Rights also approved the movie for screening and dismissed all the objections. Former Chairperson of the committee and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar said that the film can be screened when cinema halls open post-COVID.