A lot of comments were seen on social media regarding the Pakistani film ‘Zindagi Tamasha’ released on YouTube. In fact, the film directed by Sarmad Khusat has been buzzing in the media. It premiered at the prestigious Busan Film Festival four years ago. Also this film was sent from Pakistan for the 93rd Oscar Awards. Despite this, it was not allowed to be released in cinemas due to its censorship and protests. After getting tired the director thought it fit to release it on YouTube. The film is being appreciated across borders.
At the center of the film is Rahat Khawaja (Arif Hassan), a middle-aged man. He is a ‘real estate agent’ who is interested in singing. They are called to sing ‘Naat’ in gatherings. At home, he takes care of his wife Farkhanda (Samia Mumtaz) who suffers from bedridden illness. He has a married daughter, Sadaf (Iman Sulaiman), who keeps coming and going at home. The film is set in Lahore.
The way Rahat takes care of his wife questions the gender division of work in a male-dominated society. Woven from the fabric of a middle-class family, this story attacks the prevailing hypocrisy in Pakistani society.
Rahat is a religious man. At a friend’s son’s wedding, they dance to an old song-‘Zindagi Tamasha Bani’ (taken from the famous Pakistani film ‘Naukar Woti Da (1974)’). A bystander recorded it on a mobile phone, which went viral on social media. The director has shown very clearly in the film how it affects the relationship between family members and social relations. Along with this, a glimpse of Pakistani spy society is seen here under the pretext of relief. Everyone is watching each other. Where privacy, freedom has no meaning.
The question is also, does privacy matter in this age of social media? In a scene in the film, when Sadaf is scrolling her mobile while sleeping late at night, Rahat tells her – ‘Sleep tomorrow, I will go to office too’. On one level where cinema revolves around human relationships, on another level it is also about the interference or mediation of technology in human life. The film begins with a recording of Rahat. Also, he is asked to apologize through a recorded message, where he has an altercation with a Maulana. They refuse to record. There was a controversy in Pakistan over the way Maulana’s character was portrayed in the cinema.
Coincidentally, after partition, Lahore emerged as the center of Pakistani cinema, but it did not develop as much as Bollywood. Especially in the last century, during the reign of General Zia-ul-Haq of Pakistan, there were many restrictions on cinema, songs and music, which led to the collapse of the cinema industry. Bollywood fanatics are present there.
In the 21st century, some young directors have made a splash in Pakistani cinema. Pakistani films released in the last decade like ‘Khuda Ke Liye’, ‘Ramchand Pakistani’, ‘Bol’ etc. have many fans in India as well. Also, Pakistani film ‘Joyland’ was shortlisted for ‘Best International Feature Film’ at the 95th Oscar Awards last year. She was featured in ‘Un Certain Regard’ at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival where it won the Jury Prize. ‘Joyland’ made headlines at various film festivals but the film was not available to the general Indian audience. It was recently launched on Amazon Prime (OTT).
Although both these films are set in Pakistan, the story is familiar to Indian audiences. Like ‘Zindagi Tamasha’, at the heart of ‘Joyland’ is a family living in Lahore. The director has very sensitively captured the feelings of relief, pain and vulnerability in the film. Arif Hasan is very believable in the role of Rahat. Conservative ideas of relaxation with religious principles – for example, regarding same-sex relationships, are voiced in cinema. The director has subtly and skillfully incorporated the atmosphere, bazaar, street-space of Lahore in the cinema. Pakistani cinema has high hopes from young directors like Sam Sadiq, Sarmad Khusat.
The freedom or social openness required for cinema or any art form is completely missing in Pakistan. Cinema is the expression of the director’s soul. Like the main character Rahat, Sarmad was also tortured. Sadly his life seems to follow art!
Arvind DasJournalist, writer
A writer-journalist. Published the book ‘Map of the Media’, ‘The Lost City in Bekhudi: Notes of a Journalist’ and ‘News in Hindi’. Film Appreciation Course from FTII. PhD from JNU and post doctoral research from Germany.