Versatile and acclaimed actor, director Sarmad Khoosat has said that storytelling is his real passion and he realised this after consuming considerable time in acting and teaching.“You cannot be a tourist in telling your story to the audience. You need to immerse yourself into whatever you are doing. You have to live it and most important the creation of a special bond is required,” said Khoosat. He made these comments while speaking at the Institute of Art and Culture (IAC) weekly Cultural Talk series. “As a storyteller or an actor we assume that just having seen a couple of classic films, or reading a few books of great literature is sufficient, but it’s not.” IAC Vice Chancellor Professor Sajida Vandal, Pro Vice Chancellor Professor Pervaiz Vandal, faculty members and a large number of students were also present at the occasion. Khoosat said that he strongly believes that cinema somehow is not the most supreme form of art, in fact it is a mix form of all delicate allied disciplines, where you have to bring in literature, music, dance, photography, good sense of architecture, and how colors fuse with each other and most importantly how movement and stillness are assembled. It is a very complex and intricate form and the real task is to capture the soul of it, he added. Khoosat emphasised that having a good idea was not enough for success, “As a storyteller or an actor we assume that just having seen a couple of classic films, or reading a few books of great literature and having seen some brilliant theatre performances are sufficient, but it’s not.” “When you really live the story, breathe the characters and practice their inner feelings, only then the truth comes out in the form of quality work and honest storytelling,” the actor added. During the discussion, Sarmad revealed that he ended up spending three days in the hospital for drinking a mixture of poster paint and milk while shooting the concluding scene of the film ‘Manto’. He also expressed the momentous experience of overcoming his fears during the landmark performance of a death row prisoner’s last 24 hours depiction in ‘No Time to Sleep.’ Before the conversation, a compilation of extracts from his award-winning film Manto, plays, music videos, and other remarkable work was shown. Published in Daily Times, December 24th 2018.