Manto : Homage to the literary writer in words and on screen
Manto : ****
India | Hindi | Biographical Drama
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui; Rasika Dugal; Tahir Raj Bhasin;
Duration: 1 hr 52 mins
Released: September 2018
Plot:
Manto follows the story of writer Saadat Hasan Manto since pre independence and until his days as he tried to sober up in a Pakistani Asylum.
Review:
Manto directed by Nandita Das outshines its actors in terms of script, screenplay, art direction, cinematography and sound. Starring actors like Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Manto, Rasika Dugal as Safia, Tahir Raj Bhasin as Shyam the film talks about literary writer Saadat Hasan Manto.
The film starts pre-independence taking a look at Manto's life which still had court visits as part of his everyday routine. As a writer who prefers to write about the bitter truth of society, he always chooses to talk the grim part of society like women in prostitution, crude, foul language which gets into the way society likes to function. He is often asked to stop writing such stories and is still as often appreciated for his work.
Manto pre-independence worked as a scriptwriter for a film studio and earned a good steady income for his family. Until he the India- Pakistan separation when he chooses to move to the new nation where he has to struggle to earn ends meet.
The film incorporates Manto's well-known stories very blatant but subtle manner. Watching the stories become a part of his time and him become an image of the society is not an easy experience but shows how the surrounding can affect the best of us and bring us down.
Nawaz as Manto takes the character out of the pages and on to the screen very easily. There are moments when the movie absorbs and shows every part of the era so lively and parts where it only leaves you captivated by Nawaz's reciting one of his Manto's writings falsely.
The film un-apologetically just talks about the writer Saadat Hasan Manto and the things he has seen that inspired his writings and his life work. There is nothing more here if you are looking for a Bollywood style drama this is not it. Manto is a plain biographical drama film that left me speechless at the end.
I admit I have a soft spot for artists that get lost in their own art but the film really took me to the times when dialogue wants just a conversation but had a deeper meaning and was extremely dramatic but not overly done. Just plain beautiful in terms of how people would have found the grim brother's original fairy tales beautiful.
Verdict: Watch not for the knowledge but for the mere art that it is.
**** stars
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