Upholding His Mirror to Society

I know this face. I saw itas Prisoner Z in No TimeTo Sleep.

But this is also Manto’sface in the eponymous movie.

Yet the voice I hear now is asoft one, the words thoughtfullyselected. There is no frenzy orangst. The speech is gentle andcalm. A mask for the brilliancethat exudes from a single,solitary, sharp mind.

Hello, Sarmad Khoosat.

Perhaps it is the result ofnavigating Pakistan’s choppyart industry – spanning theatre,art, film, television, and curatedwork – but today, Khoosat is acurious mix of savvy businessacumen and the personificationof a modern artist, yet refusingto be limited to either one.

Almost animated yet reserved,he is a keen listener, in thesense that his answers aretailored to the question, notgiving away anything more. Notthat one can blame him.

From exploring thepsychology of people in theteleseries Tamasha Ghar in 2003to colliding with politics in thefilm Zindagi Tamasha in 2019,his has been an artist’s odyssey,surrounded by appreciation andcondemnation, which explainswhy he beautifully and carefullywords his answers. Speaking tohim, it is clear he has curated apersona where the resemblanceto his father, Irfan Khoosat,reveals his identity; the surnameis shouldered as a legacy.

Bright-eyed, his entire physicalbeing carries an energy whichindicates how much of himselfhe is willing to pour into aproject. He sees the world as hiscanvas with an almost childlikecuriosity. No project is enoughfor him. He wants to knowmore about the world and thehuman mind, he wants to realisehimself and he is just so eagerto communicate what he learnswith the world.

Malala Yousafzai is theexecutive producer for Joyland,a critically acclaimed filmfor which he was one of theproducers. After decadesof work, and national andinternational success, manywould sit back happily, contentto live as fat cats, smug intheir knowledge that they have‘Made It Big’. Yet, he recentlycurated Manduva, highlightingthe history of Lollywood andPakistani cinema at the LahoreBiennale Foundation.

Why does he do what hedoes? What is it about Khoosatthat people love, and whydo they view his work withsimultaneous wonder andcriticism? Is the magic shortlived as only a performance?

“I have an explorer’s curiosity. Ido it because I am curious abouttelling stories.”

As a case study Khoosat isan anomaly. His background isin psychology; he earned hisMasters’ degree and a goldmedal from Government CollegeUniversity, Lahore, and onceentertained the thought of beinga “pseudo-academic.”

However, irrespective ofwhether it is the family genepool – “Abba” (Irfan Khoosat)was in television, most famouslyas Hawaldar Karamdad, and“Amma” worked for RadioPakistan – or the desire to knowmore about human nature, whenthe explorer and the storytellerin him merge, Khoosat’saudiences are always excitedabout what he has to offer, nomatter what it is.

Producer, director, actoranything to do with Khoosat?Yes, please.

The takers of his variousprojects are keen on venturinginto the unknown because thatis somewhat expected of him– the idea that Khoosat will dosomething ‘different’. The criticalacclaim, the shock factor of hiswork and his artistic sense ispackaged neatly as ‘an artist’sexperience’, which can beviewed as a means of pushingcreativity in a country starved ofit. And, as he has discovered,there is always an audience for it,be it Kamli, Joyland, the JusticePakistan Project, No Time ToSleep (a ground-breaking 24-hour live performance chartingthe final day of a death rowprisoner on Dawn.com) or aLollywood curation.

For him, his journey is one ofevolution and the only standardto uphold is the artistry ofhis work. As time elapses,past and present work mustretain that ‘touch’, the ‘SarmadKhoosat’ element which herefers to as “nafasat.”

And this is where his soulemerges. Freeing himself fromthe confines of the formality ofEnglish and speaking fluentlyin Urdu and later in Punjabi,Khoosat emerges with so muchpassion, it is dazzling! His lovefor local drama, theatre andtelevision spills over like a river,enriching parched lands, suchas Lollywood that desperatelyneed a revival as it crumbles likea dried leaf.

And so all the pieces fall intoplace. From his first directorialdebut in Piya Naam KaDiya (2007) to Pani Jaisa Pyar in2011. From Shehr-e-Zaat whichheld a wide female audiencecaptive to No Time To Sleep in2018, where he pricked the soulsof a deadened nation – Pakistan’schameleon is sticking to whatworks for him as an individual.

Is he bothered about thecritics who claim he does notgive as much as he shouldor is not open to sharing hiswork with others? Or whenhis foray into commercial work– televised drama serials –causes eyebrows to be raisedand questions to be asked:

“Sarmad is doing television?”“Why is he doing this? How canSarmad come down to *this?”*“Oh… he’s come down tocommercial work?”

“Criticism is a mindset,” heresponds. Being called a ‘sell out’is shrugged off as a label, not abadge of identity.

And it is true. ExpectingKhoosat to share himself and hisart would almost be like breakingthe Koh-i-Noor into smallerpieces to make several diamondsets. The lustre, magic andmagnificence would be gone.

It is what he doesn’t say thatsurprises one when questionedabout his foray into commercialwork; where it is alleged he“compromises.” He refuses toapologise for it, instead showinga refreshing attitude towards it.To make a Manto, Shehr-eZaat or Humsafar, commercialwork is needed to earnartistic liberty.

He is aware of the lossesincurred by the creativeindustries in Pakistan.“Television is lucrative and Ihave picked up TV work, whichwas not my genre. But I havepicked up work that is not too farfrom my principles and ideology,but that was to pay peoplebecause people need to surviveand produce more work.”

Not that his commercialwork dilutes his ideologycompletely. He maintains thatdelicate balance between doingcommercial work and retainingauthenticity, a sharp move as away of offering financially viableentertainment whilst ensuringthat quality is not compromised.

“Character flaws, errors,mistakes that is where storieslie. ‘Wokey’ correctness islimiting,” he says. This is alsoin reference to the controversyaround Shehr-e-Zaat, where itwas felt that the female lead’scharacter arc was regressive.But again, he realises that if hegives in to public pressure thatis the cause of artistic declineand the death of engagement,which he sees as necessaryfor the survival of art. “Thesame formulas when it comesto stories can be repeatedbut characters can change.Character vulnerability and flawsmust be present.”

Khoosat has created astrategy which leaves theaudiences of his commercialwork wanting more – morebecause of what he doesto make them ‘feel’. In thesame way, he does in hisnon-commercial work, he hasmastered the art of cateringto both sets of audiencesunder the same category – aKhoosat consumer.

He knows the game, heunderstands the people andthe different audiences and heknows what works. He knowshis star power, whether it is hissurname or the new charactershe plays or directs; it is allmagical to him as it shapes andtransforms into new audiences.

When asked if he sees hiswork as a sailor who has set outto explore the vast unknown, helaughs. And then deadpans, “Idon’t know how to swim.”

That moment there leaves meunsure of what to say next. But Isure as heck want to know more.And unknowingly, one becomesa Sarmad Khoosat consumer.

Mehr Husain is an author andpublisher based in Lahore.mehrfhusain@gmail.com

Cover photo by Hussain Zaidi. Courtesy Sarmad Khoosat’s Facebook account.