Written by Ammar Zaidi In the run-up to the release of her film Manto, actor and acclaimed filmmaker Nandita Das exhorted students at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) on Monday to develop ‘Mantoiyyat’ in themselves, a free spiritedness, fearlessness and the ability to speak bluntly. Students in contemporary India should be nonconformist and courageous, she said. Speaking at the Professor Rajni Kothari Lecture series at the School of Development Studies in TISS on the topic ‘Experiencing Manto’, Das said her film on Sadat Hassan Manto would be the most powerful interpretation of this spirit of the celebrated Indian-born writer who migrated to Lahore. The film releases on September 21. Das said the idea behind her film is to “celebrate people like Manto who have existed in all eras and who were misunderstood during their times”. “As a nation, we self-censor ourselves constantly. But Manto spoke his mind and he was even tried for obscenity six times. He argued his own cases. If I had to make a film with the same topic without Manto, it would have seemed didactic. Some would say it is agenda driven, especially in times when the lines between news and views are blurred, when any commentary is going to polarise, so I took refuge behind Manto,” she added. Manto’s words remain relevant even today, said Das. “Manto was born a Muslim but he went beyond religion and identity. He talked of humanity. He would say ‘don’t say ek lakh Hindu mare, yah ek lakh Musalman mare, yeh kaho ek lakh insaan mare’.” Danish Husain, who plays Manto’s friend in the movie, said Manto’s stories are stunning, living with readers for years.
