Nandita Das with Manto's real life daughters (Courtesy nanditadasofficial)
Highlights
- Screening of Manto was attended by Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Shabana Azmi
- Manto will hot the screens this Friday
- Nawazuddin Siddiqui plays the titular character in the film
Nandita Das' much anticipated film Manto starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui is releasing this Friday and daughters of the renowned Urdu writer Saadat Hasan Manto arrived in Mumbai to be part of the special screening held on Monday night. Nuzhat Arshad and Nusrat Jalal were photographed at the screening of Manto with Nandita Das. The screening was also attended by Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Shabana Azmi, Rasika Dugal, Ila Arun, Deepti Naval, Rahul Bose, Ali Fazal, Imtiaz Ali Aahana Kumra, Jim Sarbh, Sanjana Sanghi and Resul Pookutty. However, Manto's eldest daughter Nighat Patel couldn't be part of the screening.
Take a look at the photos from Manto screening.
Just a day prior to the screening, Manto's daughters Nuzhat and Nusrat met director Nandita Das and the cast of Manto. The 48-year-old filmmaker shared photos from the get together on social media and captioned: "Manto's daughters, Nuzhat and Nusrat, are in Mumbai! Looking forward to showing Manto film to them. Nervous, but fingers crossed they like it!" Nawazuddin, who plays the titular character in the film and Rasika Dugal were part of the meeting.
Rajshri Deshpande, who plays a pivotal role in the film, also shared a photo on Twitter where the actress can be posing with Manto's daughters Nuzhat and Nusrat. She captioned the photo: "Aaj ki subah aur dopahar Manto, Ismat aur Safia ki kahani sunte huye gujara. Lag raha tha ki ye din kabhi khatam na ho aur mai buss kahaniyaaa sunti rahu. It was a huge honour to meet and spend some lovely time with Manto's daughters Nuzhat and Nusrat apa."
Rasika Dugal plays the role of Saadat Hasan Manto's wife Safia in the film. Speaking to IANS in an interview, the actress said that meeting his family was a "great" experience. "It is so nice to finally get to meet the family. Nandita's efforts have finally brought them here. It gives me great joy to show them around Bombay (now Mumbai) - the city that their parents loved," Rasika told IANS.
Nandita Das-directed Manto was screened in the Un Certain Regard category at the Cannes Film Festival 2018. The biopic is based on the life of Urdu writer Saadat Hasan Manto, who challenged all forms of orthodoxy through his written pieces.
The film also stars Rishi Kapoor, Divya Dutta and Tahir Raj Bhasin in key roles, along with lyricist Javed Akhtar.