In conversation with Nandita Das
The Hindu“ 1857 ke khandhar mein, Mughaliya sultanat mein; Sab peeche dekh rahe hain, jab aaj ke kaatil lahu se tareekh likh rahe hain. ” Nawazuddin Siddiqui, as Saadat Hasan Manto in Nandita Das’s biographical film on the celebrated Indo-Pakistani writer, talks about how we keep blaming everything on the past — the ruins of 1857, the Mughal empire — even as newer killers keep marching on, spilling blood to write fresh chapters of violence in evolving contemporary history. He was not a sentimentalist: “They are as is… raw, straightforward, without embellishments.” In fact, Das initially wanted to make short films of Manto’s stories. “I would have someone read out the Urdu books to me, and record them.” And, of course, there was Manto’s family — his daughters and his grand-niece Ayesha Jalal who wrote The Pity of Partition:Manto’s Life, Times, and Work across the India-Pakistan Divide. According to Das, Manto himself used to say “ Jab tak insaan aur Manto mein kamiyan rahengi, tab tak main use khurdbeen se dekhta rahunga aur doosron ko dikhata rahunga “I wanted to show Manto to audiences with all his amazing qualities and his blemishes,” says Das.
History of this topic
Review: The Collected Stories of Saadat Hasan Manto, Volume 1, Bombay and Poona, translated by Nasreen Rehman
Hindustan TimesManto would have been appalled that nothing has changed 70 years later: Nandita Das
The Hindu)
Manto casting director Honey Trehan on how he recreated the world of the Urdu writer
Firstpost
Manto movie review: Manto, examined only in juxtaposition
Deccan Chronicle)
Manto movie review: Nawazuddin Siddiqui is the best he has ever been in Nandita Das' stirring portrait of a genius
Firstpost)
Manto: Nandita Das' brilliantly crafted biopic isn't inclusive enough of those unaware of the writer
Firstpost)
Making of Manto: Behind the scenes of the Saadat Hasan biopic
Firstpost)
Manto's fearlessness and compulsion to tell the truth resonated with my own journey, says Nandita Das
Firstpost)
Manto director Nandita Das to speak on gender inequality in Bollywood at Toronto International Film Festival
Firstpost
Manto: Nandita Das' directorial, featuring Nawazuddin Siddiqui, to be screened at BFI London Film Festival
Firstpost
Nandita Das: Manto is a mirror to our prejudices, fears, morality
Hindustan TimesDiscover Related
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