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Exclusive: Nandita Das on Manto & the Shrinking Space for Dissent

“Manto allows me to respond to the overwhelming realities of today,” says Nandita Das.

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Indian Cinema
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(This video has been republished from The Quint’s archives to mark the release of Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s ‘Manto’. It was originally published on 18 January 2018.)

Nandita Das does not claim to be an expert on Urdu. This, however, does not have a bearing on her relationship with Saadat Hasan Manto, the Urdu stalwart. Her dream project, Manto, with Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the lead role, is finally take shape after years of planning and conceptualisation. She has been promoting the film across the country through literary and cultural events like Jashn-e-Rekhta, India’s largest Urdu festival, which is again gearing up to enthrall the New Delhi audiences next month.

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Why Manto?

Das feels that Manto exists as a space beyond his identity as a writer and a man.

It’s not about just Manto – the writer, the man, but what he invokes and how through him I can respond to what’s happening today in the country and the world. It’s all so overwhelming. The way democracy is being threatened, free speech is being threatened, how identity is being played out... all these issues that bother me, Manto provides me with a space to be able to respond to them.  
Nandita Das, Filmmaker
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The space for nuance is increasingly shrinking, Das finds. Independent cinema is one of the last bastions that secures that space to an extent. Using this platform for Manto’s writings, which are quite accessible, Das is making an attempt to open up a conversation around identity politics, intolerance, and democracy. She hastens to add, however, that the film is not preachy in any way.

This is not an esoteric film talking to the converts. It’s everybody’s film. It is for everyone who believes that given identities are nothing to be proud or ashamed of. Without being preachy, Manto allows you to reflect and talk about these issues.  
Nandita Das, Filmmaker

Politics of Space

Das has always occupied a curious spot in public life and she acknowledges the same. She invokes Manto to establish how “fitting in” is an obsolete idea.

Manto was not a part of the Progressive Writers’ Association. Does one have to be a part of something to be progressive? Even I haven’t really fitted in anywhere. The activist world thinks that I’m more of a film person. The film world thinks I’m more of an activist. I’ve not tried to fit in with either. The fault lines will remain. You have to go by your conviction. Even in the industry, it’s not so well demarcated. There’s a hushed silence about a lot of things. In fact, people barely speak out.  
Nandita Das, Filmmaker

Manto’s ‘Female Gaze’

When it comes to silence, it is almost always about the women. Das laments that what Manto could do in 1940s, we are incapable of doing even now, namely an honest and sensitive portrayal of women in our stories.

Manto’s sensitivity and empathy towards women is remarkable. It’s almost like a female gaze. I remember one line from his story License – “She wasn’t selling herself yet people were buying her bit by bit”. It shows his understanding of women’s everyday reality. He gave dignity and agency to even a sex worker. If she says NO, it means NO. She may have desire, she will choose her clients.
Nandita Das, Filmmaker

The Manto-wallahs

While Das is upbeat about Manto, she’s not sure about the Manto-wallahs. Making a biopic is tricky anyway but when the personality in question is as complex and controversial as Manto, it is in a different league. Das aims to present Manto with all his complexities and contradictions, which are an integral part of his character.

Making Manto wasn’t easy at all. I did not grow up in an Urdu-speaking milieu. I don’t claim to be an expert at all. But he was also an Urdu-fail person! His vocabulary was rich with words from other languages. Manto wouldn’t be troubled by our imperfections. But the experts may have a problem with the film. We’ve tried to capture the spirit of Manto. He’s a grey character, he is both sensitive and aggressive. His contradictions, courage and fear – they all coexisted. It was definitely not easy to weave his stories around the story of his life. But you will watch it!   
Nandita Das, Filmmaker

Das adds that the idea behind the making of the film is to bring out Mantoiyat in people of today and not put him on a pedestal. Manto himself would have liked all his warts to be shown.

Let’s see if we are ready for his warts too.

Camera Person: Athar Rather

Video Editor: Sandeep Suman

Location Courtesy: Jashn-e-Rekhta

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Topics:  Nandita Das   Nawazuddin Siddiqui   Manto 

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