Making of Manto: Behind the scenes of the Saadat Hasan biopic

“In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful Here lies Saadat Hasan Manto, and with him lie buried all the secrets and mysteries of the art of short-story writing… Under tons of earth he lies, still wondering who among the two is the greater short-story writer: God or He.” - Manto’s epitaph for himself Over six decades after his death, the literary legacy of Saadat Hasan Manto remains as relevant as ever. Actress-filmmaker Nandita Das’ feature film Manto, which is set to release on 21 September and stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui, is a homage to a writer both celebrated and condemned for his fearless, honest writing. In fact, the Hindi film industry greatly influenced Manto’s career — just as it did with many leading Urdu and Hindi writers of that era, including Ismat Chughtai, Krishan Chander, Qurratulain Hyder. There are only subtle variations of details that have helped to differentiate the characters: the style of drapes, long blouse lengths, short length loose salwars and pajamas over the traditional loose silhouettes of the kameez, puffed sleeves with short length, long sleeves with cuffs, plain cotton fabric with zari or gota embellishment, or khadi with a resham embroidered border, patterns of necklines with collars, laces and trims and styles of bindi as kumkum or chandan on the forehead.” [imgcenter> [/imgcenter> Since Partition was such an integral part of the film’s narrative, it obviously impacted Manto’s look and feel. Because the film industry features in Manto, there’s also a league of supporting cast members playing the parts of Bollywood luminaries like Ashok Kumar, Nargis, K Asif, and so on.