Showing posts with label Sarmad Khoosat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sarmad Khoosat. Show all posts
I got the opportunity to dance to Beatles song-Sarmad Khoosat
11:18 AM
Pakistani filmmaker Sarmad Khoosat talks about rendering Urdu novelist Hyder’s short story for web series
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; June 17, 2021)
After the encouraging response to his film 'Zindagi Tamasha' (2019), acclaimed Pakistani director-actor Sarmad Khoosat has returned to helm and front an episode of Yaar Julahay. The second episode will have Khoosat showcasing Sahitya Akademi, Jnanpith and Padma Bhushan awardee Qurratulain Hyder’s classic short story, Nazzarah Darmyan Hai. The first episode, also directed by Khoosat, featured Mahira Khan as she did a dramatic reading of Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi’s classic, Guriya.
Nazzarah Darmyan Hai is a short story about Khurshid Aalam, a talented violinist who ditches his Parsi fiancée Peroja Dastur, a classical pianist, for a rich woman, Almas Begum. Hyder has woven together class differences, societal norms, economic needs and unwanted compromises that force lovers to part ways in this story. “The story conveys a lifetime of longing, and is an ode to love and loss,” says Khoosat of the episode that will stream this week on Zee Theatre.
“The story has an expansive plot, drama, a flash-forward, a flashback, many characters and a scale that is almost epic. The team and I have tried to do justice to this love story where the writing brings the era alive.”
In order to reflect the narrative’s period, an opulent set of a Parsi home was created, complete with a grand piano that had to be carted from Islamabad to Lahore. Styled to perfection to resemble someone who has an impeccable fashionable sense, Khoosat recalls, “During the shoot, I had to ensure that beneath the layers of my elegant clothing, my mic caught my voice and narration perfectly.”
He further adds how the narration, immersed in music, helped him express the right emotions. “I got the opportunity to dance to a Beatles song, to sing Harry Bellafonte’s Jamaica Farewell, and even rendered Baba Farid’s immortal words, Kaga sab tan khaaiyo chun chun khaiyo maas.”
Mahira Khan returns to Indian screens with Yaar Julahay
8:08 AM
As Pak star Mahira returns to Indian screens with Yaar Julahay, director says series revives storytelling by bringing forth works of celebrated writers
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; May 7, 2021)
Over four years after she starred alongside Shah Rukh Khan in Raees (2017), Pakistani star Mahira Khan has a date with the Indian audience again. The actor will feature in the opening episode of Yaar Julahay, a series of dramatic readings that pays tribute to celebrated writers of the Indian subcontinent. Through the 12-episode Zee Theatre offering, art lovers will be reacquainted with the timeless stories of progressive Urdu and Hindi writers, including Gulzar, Saadat Hasan Manto, Ismat Chughtai, Munshi Premchand, Amrita Pritam, Qurratulain Hyder, Balwant Singh and Ghulam Abbas.
Come May 15, the first episode will see Khan reading Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi’s classic Guriya, which highlights the story of two best friends Mehra and Bano, and their contradicting emotions for a doll.
Humsafar maker Sarmad Khoosat, who has taken on the double duty of direction and reading, says the series is inspired by Dastangoi — a tradition of creating and telling stories that define South Asian culture. “We have interpreted Dastangoi in a contemporary way. There is live and recorded music, along with suggestive details that articulate the story’s theme. For instance, when I directed Mahira for the Guriya episode, the set was strewn with dolls. It created an eerie atmosphere that augmented the narration and enhanced the inherent mood of the reading.”
Kanwal Khoosat, who has shared the directorial duties with him, adds, “In each reading, we have maintained the integrity of the author’s voice even as we amplify it through the digital medium to reach as many people as possible.”
Besides Khan and Sarmad, Churails actors Sarwat Gilani, Fawad Khan, Yasra Rizvi and senior actor Sania Saeed will narrate the tales. Shailja Kejriwal, chief creative officer, special projects, ZEEL, says she wanted to bring forth “unique and complex” stories that have stood the test of time. “Each of the featured writers has processed reality through characters that we can still identify with. Kanwal and Sarmad Khoosat approach a project with a certain artistic sensitivity and have deep respect for the material. Their sensibility was needed for such a unique project,” she says.
I am simply happy that my film finds a fresh set of viewers, says Pakistani filmmaker Sarmad Khoosat
8:07 AM
Arif Hassan and Eman Suleman in Zindagi Tamasha
Pakistani filmmaker Sarmad Khoosat on finding more takers for Zindagi Tamasha, before the Oscars
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; December 27, 2020)
It's almost ironic that a film that's chosen as the official entry to the Oscars from Pakistan, failed to procure a countrywide release. The frustration is brimming on the surface for filmmaker Sarmad Khoosat, whose Zindagi Tamasha is a strong contender from the sub continent at the upcoming Academy Awards run.
With the film being the closing offering at last week's I-view World Film Festival, the filmmaker starts with talking about finding a new audience rather unexpectedly. "When I land in Delhi (the last I was there), I see how similar it is to Karachi. Phonetically, Hindi and Urdu sound alike too. There is so much common history, common stories. I am simply happy that my film finds a fresh set of viewers, regardless of it benefits from it ahead of Oscar run. I wish I could've flown down for the screening but alas, the pandemic has played quite a spoilsport. Films are made for viewing by maximum people and that's what is truly gratifying for a filmmaker."
The angst of the film not finding a release in his home country gnaws at him evidently. Subject to hate calls and bullying for months, Khoosat went off all social media platforms to maintain his sanity. "My film was treated rather unfairly. How much of a film can you know from the trailer? We have three censor boards in Pakistan and each of them has given me a clearance certificate. It's not like they banned me from releasing it. I knew the subject matter at hand and I dealt with it with great gumption and sensitivity. I wish I had the chance to show it to everyone here." The film originally premiered at the Busan Film Festival last year amidst much fanfare.
Khoosat's name might ring a bell with many Indians, who remember him as the creator of Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan's hit show Humsafar. It was natural to ask him about directing a show for Zindagi. He was last seen acting in the celebrated Zee5 show Churails, playing a gay man whose wife makes a Nihari out of him after butchering him, for betraying her. He admits he is in talks with producer Shailja Kejriwal but is yet to lock something.
Zindagi channel relaunched in India earlier this after being disbanded in 2016 following the Uri attacks. Quiz the filmmaker if he is optimistic about a more conducive cultural exchange here on and he points out a crucial fallacy, "The exchange has been fairly one-sided all along. Artistes from Pakistan have been actively working across the border. But I want to work with actors from India, people I have grown up admiring. I want to have my chance at working with Madhuri Dixit, or Tabu. Or both." Now that will be a film to watch!
People should know the loving father Saadat Hasan Manto was-Arshad Farooq
8:37 AM
(From left) Nighat Patel, Nuzhat Arshad, director Nandita Das, Nusrat Jalal and Nuzhat's husband Arshad Farooq
Manto's daughters on why they agreed to part with his story for the Nandita Das-helmed biopic
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; September 5, 2018)
Determined to be true to the story of Saadat Hasan Manto in her biopic featuring Nawazuddin Siddiqui, director Nandita Das dedicated 10 years to discover the man behind the enigma. It was her passion that won over the writer's daughters, Nuzhat Arshad and Nusrat Jalal, thus convincing them to part with their story.
In a chat with mid-day, Arshad reveals that she first met Das in Lahore in March 2007. "I believe Manto's personal life hasn't been given its due share of coverage. People should know the loving father and affectionate husband that he was. He was castigated during his lifetime, but he continues to be as relevant today as he was sixty-three years ago."
Though his works were pertinent, obscenity charges were levelled against many of his creations. The repeated defamatory allegations sent Manto plunging into the abyss of alcoholism, which, in turn, pushed his family into poverty. However, Arshad credits mother Safia for shielding them in troubled times. "As for our father, he saw a reflection of him in me and nicknamed me Jujiajee. He used to make me sit on his lap and sing Chanda Rai Ja Rai," she says.
Jalal remembers her father as a man who firmly believed in gender equality. "Manto did not shy away from helping around the house. He would even sweep the floor, so that his daughters could crawl around. He also made toys for us from discarded cigarette boxes and matchsticks."
Pakistani director Sarmad Khoosat had brought Manto's life to the big screen with his 2015 eponymous offering. But Arshad believes that Das's rendition will unravel other facets of the famed writer. "Nandita worked closely with the family to understand the intricacies of Manto on a personal level, unlike Sarmad who never bothered asking us about what he was like as a person."
Jalal chimes in, "Nandita has essentially focussed on my father's life when he was in Bombay. Sarmad's focus, on the other hand, was on Manto's life in Lahore. He intended to make a television serial, but eventually condensed it and released it as a film."
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