Sarmad Sultan Khoosat (, born 7 May 1979) is a Pakistani actor, director, producer, and

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

. Mainly known for his work as a director and actor in both cinema and television, Khoosat has directed the super-hit TV dramas '' Humsafar'' and '' Shehr-e-Zaat''. The son of

Irfan Khoosat Irfan Khoosat (Punjabi language, Punjabi, ) (born 9 June 1952) is a Pakistani actor, director, producer and comedian. He is famous for his comic role as ''Hawaldar Karamdad'' in the TV series ''Andhera Ujala'' (1984–1985) in which he portraye ...

, he is considered one of the best

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

n filmmakers with his 2019 film '' Zindagi Tamasha'' being selected as Pakistan's entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards. The film also premiered at the 24th

Busan International Film Festival The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF; ), formerly the Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF), held annually in Haeundae District, Busan, South Korea, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. The first festival, held fro ...

under the section 'A Window on Asian Cinema'. However, the film release in the Pakistani cinemas was delayed multiple times and Khoosat finally released it on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

on his official channel Khoosat Films on 4 August 2023. He also portrayed the role of Saadat Hasan Manto in his film '' Manto'' (2015).

Family

He is the son of veteran TV and film actor, producer and comedian

, while his sister Kanwal Khoosat is also a director,

and

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

Early life

Academically, he graduated from Government College University (Lahore) and earned a master's degree in psychology and a gold medal. He also was a member of the ''Debating Kutta Society of GCU''.

Career

He rose to prominence in 2001, when he wrote, directed and acted in the

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

Shashlik Shashlik, or shashlyck ( ''shashlyk''), is a Dish (food), dish of skewered and grilled cubes of meat, similar to or synonymous with shish kebab. It is known traditionally by various other names in the Caucasus, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, an ...

,'' which ran for over three years on PTV. Sarmad then directed a series of tele-films for Geo TV, ''Tamasha Ghar'', in 2003, the screenwriter Saji Gul basing the work on themes dealing with

subconscious In psychology, the subconscious is the part of the mind that is not currently of focal awareness. The term was already popularized in the early 20th century in areas ranging from psychology, religion and spirituality. The concept was heavily popu ...

desires and fears (inspired by the

Freudian Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies seen as originating from conflicts in t ...

school of

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

). He later directed ''Piya Naam Ka Diya'' in 2007, in which he acted opposite filmstar Saima Noor and Erum Akhtar. Sarmad then served as executive director for a soap serial named ''Mujhe Apna Naam-o-Nishan Milay'', directed by his sister Kanwal Khoosat. Khoosat the directed '' Kalmoohi'' that was an adaptation of

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

's '' Chokher Bali'', began airing on PTV in early 2010, also got good reviews. In 2011, he gained significant prominence and acclaim with the TV drama '' Pani Jaisa Piyar'' that aired on

Hum TV Hum TV HD is a 24-hour Urdu general entertainment TV channel based in Karachi, Pakistan. It was founded by Sultana Siddiqui and Duraid Qureshi. It is owned by Hum Network Limited and traded on the Pakistan Stock Exchange as (HUMNL). Hum Net ...

. It won him the best director award for it on

LUX Style Awards The Lux Style Awards is an award ceremony which has been held annually in Pakistan since 2002. The ceremony celebrates "style" in the Pakistani entertainment industry, such as Cinema of Pakistan, cinema, television in Pakistan, television, Pa ...

. He directed ''Jal Pari,'' which was aired on

Geo TV Jang Media Group (), also known as Geo Group, is a Pakistani media conglomerate and a subsidiary of Dubai-based company Independent Media Corporation. It has headquarters in Printing House, Karachi. It is the publisher of the Urdu language new ...

. He went on to direct '' Humsafar'' for Hum TV, which became an overnight success. His serial ''Shehr-e-Zaat'' was especially popular with women. He conducted a workshop at the

Lahore University of Management Sciences Lahore University of Management Sciences, also known by its acronym LUMS, is a Private university, private research university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded in 1985, it is ranked as one of the most prestigious modern Li ...

's annual amateur film festival in June 2011. Khoosat directed episodes for ''Faseele Jaan Se Aagay'' and ''Ashk''. He also directed the remake of the original Pakistani film, '' Aina'', as a telefilm. In 2015, he completed shooting '' Mein Manto''. In October 2018, he delivered a 24-hour-long live act, ''No Time To Sleep'', enacting the last 24 hours of a death row prisoner's life, a performance which earned him critical appreciation. As of October 2018, he wrote the script for Saqib Malik's upcoming production ''Ajnabee Sheher Main'', while he has two upcoming feature films as director, writing one as well. His 2019 feature film '' Zindagi Tamasha'' won the Kim Jin Seok award at the 24th Busan International Film Festival as well as the Best Film and Best Actor at the Asian World Film Festival 2021. Despite its critical acclaim, the film release was halted in 2020 by the notorious party, TLP, which called for it to be censored. Despite cleared for release by the authorities, Khoosat continued to receive death threats calling for the film to be banned. It was selected as Pakistan's entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards, but was not nominated. The film was then eventually released on

on 4 August 2023.

Influence

Khoosat is influenced by

Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, author, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligraphy, calligrapher, and composer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influ ...

and

Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film and theatre director and screenwriter. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential film directors of all time, his films have been described as "profoun ...

in direction.

Filmography

Television serials

Webseries

Telefilms

Films

Awards and recognition

Pride of Performance The Pride of Performance (), officially known as the Presidential Pride of Performance, is an award bestowed by the Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Pakistan to recognize people with "notable achievements in the field of art, science, literature, sp ...

Award in 2017 by the

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan () is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The president is the nominal head of the executive and the supreme commander of the Pakistan Armed Forces.

Sarmad Khoosat to receive 'Pride of Performance' award
Pakistan Today (newspaper), Published 15 August 2016, Retrieved 1 September 2017

References

External links

*
Zindagi Tamasha :Circus of Life, Highlights Critical Social Issues
Mediachowk {{DEFAULTSORT:Khoosat, Sarmad Sultan 1979 births Living people Pakistani television directors Urdu film producers Pakistani male television actors Pakistani film directors Pakistani male film actors Pakistani screenwriters Pakistani dramatists and playwrights Male actors from Lahore Recipients of the Pride of Performance