Remember the radical representative character Sita played by Nandita Das in 1996 movie by Deepa Mehta Fire? That was undoubtedly a movie ahead of its time. Mehta had strongly rejected biased opinions stating the movie as one of homosexuality. Rather, she explained that the movie aimed at upholding two women who found solace in one another’s company.
Twenty two years have passed since that movie created a melange of extreme responses and till date the fire has not extinguished in Nandita. Recently, she talked about her latest endeavour -Manto. A biopic on the writer Saadat Hasan Manto who has dealt in his prose from politics to prostitution with ingenious candidness that created a rage amongst many people. Nandita had seen Manto closely during her college days and now when she finally came up with the idea of featuring the movie, she could not probably think of any other name than Nawazuddin Sidduiqi. Nawaz has certain intriguing character that resembled Manto – vulnerability and arrogance has optimum balance. Nawaz has that flexibility to mould himself in every sense that the character demands. His eyes have a certain sense of eloquence that can speak annals on the conflict and battles of his time. Even as his wife, she has already selected Rasika Digal as Manto’s wife whose splendid performance in Qissa moved the audience and at once got her this role. Also, her face has extensive similarities with Safia, Manto’s wife.
However, Manto’s biopic would reflect not only his life out of fiction but also within it, because an artist cannot be possibly parted from his art.
