Manto

Class movie which would take us to the pre and post Independence Day's of India. Well scripted and directed by Nandita man and as usual Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Manto stole the show. Other stars done justice to their respective roles especially Rasika as Safia (Manto's Wife). And the last scene of Toba Tek Singh was touching. The movies revolves around Manto's life at pre independence India at bombay and post independence Pakistan at Lahore. And at Lahore his artistic choices and words were challenged by censors and he had to face court and system ruling the state. We could clearly see a liberal writer fighting for his rights and also his life transformation from Bombay to Lahore.

The movie is so string tied with beautiful acting of all the actors, that you tend to ask for another showtime. I wished the movie didn't end on 112 minutes, but effortless. What a direction and screenplay, mind-boggling experience, like said by the director in her interviews, I brought some Mantoniyat with me.

If you are one of those people who hate English subtitles in a Hindi movie, my sincere suggestion to you is to check before-hand if the subtitles are shown in the show you are going to watch.

I watched this movie, at INOX Bhubaneswar. God knows, who is the culprit behind this idiocy.

Apart from that, the movie is good, atleast from what I was able to make of it, despite the difficulty and frustration in understanding the dialogues, because of the subtitles. The acting of Nawaz is terrific. The insertion of his short-stories, into the film, is also well-done and blends near perfectly.

One thing, which I didn't like and was clearly avoidable, was the fact that the movie is not completely sincere, honest and accurate in it's depiction of Manto's life. For example, Manto started facing court trials in India only, and it did not start in Pakistan. He faced fine in only one of the total of six trials he faced. I am not fully aware of the financial hardships faced by him, but the effect and impact of the fine or the court decision, certainly seemed a bit exaggerated.

I love period films for the way it transports one to a different time, a different world altogether. This movie takes it one step further. It transports you into Manto's stories, as if you are a spectator living inside his short stories. I found the story-telling to be extremely effective. Manto's stories are highlighted really well in this movie. The parallel story-telling of his own life story and his work was a very innovative way of putting forward a biographical tale of a writer.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui, as usual, is fantastic in his role. The supporting cast, led by Rasika Duggal are also great in their respective roles. The friendship between Manto and Shyam (Tahir Raj Bhasin) was very convincing. The stories revolving around the Partition of India, and how it affected so many people at the time was absolutely heart-wrenching. The way this story was told was both educational and incredible. A great film.

After reading Thanda Gohsht I was mesmerised by the literary style and excellence of Sadat Hasan Manto. This movie has been a good portrayal of Manto's life. Manto was a literary genius who transformed literature forever. Impressed by movie and obviously flawless acting of Nawaz. They could have made it a little more better (but there's always room for improvement and critics will always find something to blame). But overall it was a great journey watching this movie and experiencing a view in Manto's life and his thinking(although it feels like grotesque and abominable). Do watch it.