'Manto': Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Rasika Dugal, Nandita Das open up on making Bollywood's first film on the life of a writer

Nawazuddin Siddiqui is gold; at least what he touches turns gold if his recent record of films and shows are seen as a measure of this acting genius. Stern-faced, spectacled Nawazuddin clad in white cotton kurta pajama is ready to take over the cinema screens this Friday as his latest offering ‘Manto’ releases all over the country. The film now comes to its home turf on September 21 after having earned accolades at foreign film festivals where it had its world premiere.

Based on crucial years in the life of iconic writer Saadat Hasan Manto who was Indian by birth, Pakistani by country of residence; Nawazuddin in and as Manto in the film aims to bring to the audience the “honesty and daring (character)” of the celebrated visionary artist.

In a conversation with WION, at the press conference of their film in New Delhi, ‘Manto’ star cast Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Rasika Dugal along with director Nandita Das revealed details about the making of this film, how we can relate to Manto’s struggles as India went through partition and its relevance in today’s testing times.

Nawazuddin is a polished actor who adds something extra to every character he portrays on the screen, be it essaying the role of a crime lord, Ganesh Gaitonde in ‘Sacred Games’ to a quirky Pakistani reporter, Chand Nawab in ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ but this time, he agrees to have taken something from ‘Manto’. In his own words, Nawaz explains that he took the man’s (Manto) “honesty, courage and his ability to dare”. Nawazuddin says, “I tried to show it on screen, imbibed these traits in myself and tried to lead a life like he would have. It became difficult after some time to carry it forward, so I had to leave it.”

For those who haven’t read Manto’s literature won’t be able to relate to it. Nawaz explains, “When you read his (Manto) writings, when you see this film too, you will realize like I did, that Manto was a lot like us with similar qualities. What differentiates him from us is ‘courage’. We keep these emotions in check, self-censor ourselves while he did not burden himself with societal pressures and did what he felt like, at all times.”

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I pick up a pen when my sensibility is hurt...

A post shared by Nawazuddin Siddiqui (@nawazuddin._siddiqui) on Aug 25, 2018 at 4:35am PDT

Manto was perceived as a big threat to the social fabric, to law and order as many people in British India believed he had no inhibitions. He challenged the said notions, which didn’t earn him the popular vote most of the times.

Filmmaker- actress Nandita Das who has helmed the film spoke about how Manto’s non-conformity is relevant today. In fact, she pits the film as “a response to what is happening in the world at present.” She says, “I felt this would be the best way to respond to what was happening today instead of being didactic and polarizing the conversation. But by just sharing something from history, sharing the life of a writer and his work and through that saying the things that we all care for.”

‘Manto’ just happened to her as she had no plans of doing another film after ‘Firaaq’. Nandita says, “When I did ‘Firaaq’, I didn’t even think I’ll do the second film. I did it because I wanted to tell that story. I wasn’t looking for a script. In fact, if I was looking, I would have never taken up this project” and adds, “It was only after I started reading about Manto in 2012, that I wanted to make a film on him. It fascinated me how relevant he was to today’s times.”

On why it took her so long to come back to direction, Nandita explains, “6 years is not that long. When you have to dig deep into a subject like this, it takes time. You have to read so much, as everything was from the written word -- and then you’re creating a story and its characters.”

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मैं अफ़साना नहीं लिखता...

A post shared by Nawazuddin Siddiqui (@nawazuddin._siddiqui) on Aug 3, 2018 at 1:28am PDT

Nandita takes us through her journey of making the film and says, “I needed to have a fine language (for the film) that would be true and authentic to that period and at the same time accessible to today’s audience. There were many drafts that I wrote. Urdu is not really my language; I didn’t grow up speaking it. I was raised in Delhi; Hindustani is my language.”

“I took the help of many people, raising funds for it, finding cast and crew, finalizing locations. It’s so tough to find those locations in today’s modern day clutter. We had to create Lahore here, all of this was a very challenging yet fulfilling experience,” she continues.

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Scenes from the @MantoFilm JNU visit. The students' excitement and enthusiasm made me reminisce about my days in college. Nawaz enthralled them by reciting dialogues from the film. #Mantoiyat #MantoLivesOn

A post shared by Nandita Das (@nanditadasofficial) on Sep 19, 2018 at 7:49am PDT

Even as Nandita dealt with internal conflicts on what to choose and what to leave out of Manto’s life’s narrative with respect to the film, she was sure about one thing all along the way and that was to show “humanity to the world via his work”. She said, “Manto was bebaak (fearless). He fought for the truth. I wanted to show his free-spirited character to the world that is full of contradictions, (and is) flawed. The idea of the film is to talk about Manto as a human being.”

Rasika Dugal, who was equally influenced by Manto’s writings was moved by his passion as she worked for the film in the role of Manto’s onscreen wife, Safia. When asked if the film has had a lingering effect on her, she replied, “I don’t think it’s worth it if the film you’ve done doesn’t affect you. But you don’t realize what you feel or how it has affected you while you are in the process of making the film. I'm not conscious of it while I’m shooting because then it's mechanical. Then you’re analyzing from an intellectual point of view. It becomes unidimensional, very boring. There’s no room for surprise or magic. It’s only retrospectively you understand what you went through.”

‘Manto’ is interestingly the first Hindi film based on the life of a writer. Nandita revealed in the interaction that their team including her wasn't aware that they were touching a genre never explored in Bollywood before. She said that while writers produce works of art, not many have lives that can be sketched on the canvas of a film; not like Manto.