Nandita Das, who is gearing up for the release of her forthcoming film “Manto“, said Manto’s story is very relevant for today’s times.
Nandita was interacting with the media here during the third edition of the WCRC Idea-fest 2018 awards on Monday.
Actor-director Nandita was presented with the Most Responsible leader award. Talking about the award and her mantra in life she said, “It always feels good when you receive an award it shows you that people have appreciate and love your work. And this award is for being a responsible and i try my best to maintain social consciousness in my work. whether it is writing for a column or acting or addressing audience somewhere. This isn’t for others but to give a meaning to my own life.
My upcoming film Manto this is also part of the same thought because Manto’s story is very relevant for today’s times. This is our way of reminding people why is it important to tell the truth. live honest, be humble and think about others.”
Nandita Das will be directing Manto starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the title character. Talking about the storyline she said, “It’s a story of the writer and the obstacles of his life and the reasons why he left Mumbai which he used to love so much and later shifted to Lahore (Pakistan) and what kind of stories he wrote in his life so, we have also shown glimpses of his stories.”
When asked about audience reaction to trailer of the film, Nandita said: “People used to think that it’s a period film which is set in 1940s and Nandita only makes serious type of films. But with the response to the trailer, we came to know that lot of people relate themselves with the film.
“We often think that there should be only entertainment in a film but I think it is necessary to engage the audience. If the audience gets engaged then they don’t try to figure out whether the film has songs or dance in it.”
“Manto” is the story of Indo-Pakistani author-writer Saadat Hasan Manto. Along with Nawazuddin the film stars Rasika Dugal, Tahir Raj Bhasin in lead roles.
Produced by HP Studios, Filmstoc and Viacom 18 Motion Pictures, the film is releasing on September 21.
