Manto – The movie, By Nandita Das

I don’t want to be a published writer. A conclusion I reached last month as I touched 50. Many of the so-called bucket list sort of melted away as realisation dawned & I decided to be sincere to be myself. I will write for the joy of writing & nothing else. Not for the reader – not for the publisher – not for being a part of any list. But I will write. It’s a simple truth.

Manto, the movie is a good effort but I found all other characters very wooden and artificial. The only reason one should see the movie is Nawazuddin Siddique who get’s inside Manto as he portrays the anguish of multiple things - being Indian & in love with Bombay but fleeing India, the Hindu-Muslim divide and the havoc it caused to the people of both countries, being tried in the court for obscenity, papers not publishing his work, his guilt of neglecting his family.

One should also see this just to understand Manto and the whole process of writing. We have always read about movies where the actors become the character – what is typically defined as method acting. The recent being Joker. Here is a writer who depicts the reality the way he sees it and what he feels about it. He writes to convert his anguish and helplessness into words and characters. He becomes so engrossed in the whole tragedy of partition that he becomes alcoholic and dies of cirrhosis of liver. He was a true case where the writer and the reality and his writing all became one.

Any creative work even if it’s a simple blog must come from inside. That’s my belief, it cannot be manufactured. So, the painters, writers (especially poems) & movie makers (sensible ones) go through lot of churn when they put out something. If the same churn can be felt by the viewer or a reader, then they have made something which is worth watching for that person. Read the below article to understand Nandita’s views as a director and time and effort she spent making this film.

Start here to know more about Manto: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saadat_Hasan_Manto

Hear what Nandita has to say: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYkDZe8y600 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EIq5OPjXBc 
(Both interviews are long but ...if you are keen to understand the director - see it.)

Revisit Manto's Bombay in words & pictures*:

https://www.firstpost.com/long-reads/revisiting-mantos-bombay-in-words-and-pictures-5228631.html 


Buy This: Bitter Fruit: The very best of Manto; Edited and translated by Khalid Hasan (best short stories)

The 5 stories which are weaved into the movie Manto* (Reality and imagination are diffused through skilfully weaving the narrative of Manto’s life with that of his famous short stories. ‘Dus Rupay Ka Note’, ‘Sau Watt Ka Bulb’, ‘Khol Do’, ‘Thanda Gosht’ and ‘Toba Tek Singh’ make their way into the film that encapsulates four years of Manto’s life – two before Independence and two after it. (*courtesy: First Post)