Sarmad Khoosat asks for royalties after Humsafar gets a Spanish release

Director Sarmad Khoosat has drawn attention to the lack of royalty payments for Pakistani television artists, after the hit drama Humsafar was announced for a Spanish-language release, The Express Tribune reported. Searches for his name rose sharply in Pakistan after the post, according to Google Trends.

Khoosat, who directed the popular drama, shared HUM TV’s announcement of the Spanish dub on his Instagram story on Tuesday. “If only there were royalties,” he wrote, with a blank-faced emoji.

What royalties mean

Royalties allow performers, directors, producers and other creative contributors to be paid when a production is reused or redistributed, for example in repeat broadcasts, re-releases or international distribution. Depending on the agreement, the payments can continue over several broadcasts, though they may shrink with each one. In many industries they give writers, directors and actors a steady income long after a project ends, especially when a show is sold to new channels or dubbed into other languages, as Humsafar now is.

Why Pakistani artists do not get them

Pakistan’s TV industry has long lacked a consistent royalty system:

• 1990s: the practice was dropped when several leading actors reportedly agreed to give up royalty rights in exchange for higher fees from the state-run Pakistan Television (PTV).
• Since then: private channels have largely followed the same model, so artists are usually paid once.
• 2021: veteran performers said in interviews that they regretted the decision, because it cut them off from a continuing source of income.

Others have spoken out

Khoosat is not the first person linked to Humsafar to raise the issue. Mahira Khan, who starred in the drama with Fawad Khan, spoke about royalties in March while promoting her film Aag Lagay Basti Main.

She said established stars such as herself and Fahad Mustafa might cope without royalties, but junior performers, technicians and crew members often face more financial uncertainty and have fewer chances to earn from their work over the long term.

Her appeal brought renewed focus on artists who help make successful productions but receive little or no extra pay when those productions keep earning money.

The debate drew wider attention in 2021 when actor Naila Jaffery spoke about her financial struggles while fighting cancer. She said royalty payments could have helped cover her medical costs and given her more security at a very difficult time.

A classic finds new audiences

Humsafar, which Khoosat directed and which starred Mahira Khan and Fawad Khan, was a major hit for HUM TV, and its Spanish dub shows how Pakistani television can keep finding new audiences long after it first aired.

That success is exactly what raises the question Khoosat’s post points to: should the people who created a lasting hit keep benefiting as it reaches new viewers? For him, the Tribune said, the international release is a milestone, but the absence of royalties shows the gap between the global reach of Pakistani entertainment and the financial protection available to the people behind it.

The debate comes in the same week that actor Urwa Hocane argued Pakistani dramas should be judged on their stories, not compared with Netflix.