‘Artistes and art have no boundaries’

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‘Artistes and art have no boundaries’

Thursday, 20 September 2018 | Team Viva

‘Artistes and art  have no boundaries’

Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui believes that India and Pakistan have a lot in common and need to reach out to each other

Speaking at a promotional event in Delhi, Nawazuddin says, “My character is of a personality who has been daring and courageous to bring the reality to the fore. While shooting and playing the character, I felt that even though there are certain methods and craft to portray and bring alive a character, playing a character like Manto is very difficult. I have tried really hard and you can see through the film that how honestly his character has been showcased.”

Nawazuddin believes that the story of Manto is very much relevant today. “The stories he wrote in 1940, and the way he looked at the world... Nothing much has changed since then as far as society is concerned. His stories are very much relevant today. In fact, we were shocked to see that we haven’t changed much, and to see that there hasn’t been much growth as an individual and a society.”

Manto, co-produced by HP Studios, Filmstoc and Viacom18 Motion Pictures, which gives a glimpse into the writer’s life during the tumultuous Partition of the sub continent.

Talking about Partition Nawaz said, “We can’t imagine the agony that millions of people endured during partition. Imagine a person having to leave behind his home of the past 40-50 years and settling down in a new country. We can’t even think the magnitude of the tragedy.”

Since the two countries have so much in common, Nawazuddin doesn’t agree putting even a temporary ban on Pakistani talent working in the Hindi film industry. “Artistes and art has no boundaries,” he asserted.

Manto, who died in 1955 at the age of 43 in Pakistan, the country to which he decided to migrate from his beloved Mumbai, penned an impressive body of work which touched on genres like women, Partition. He churned out about 22 collections of stories comprising a novel, essays, personal sketches and movie scripts. His work also gained attention for weaving stories around the ordeal of Partition, freedom of expression as well as sexuality. His straightforward writing got him in trouble as he was charged with obscenity six times for his short stories, thrice before 1947 and thrice after.

“The film is very personal. It will haunt people. You will feel a connect with the story. And the reason behind that is that every one wants to tell the truth, but there are many factors and pressures of the society stopping them from saying the truth.”

The actor is “proud of this project”. However, in the troubled times that we live in, he is a little unsure of the audience reaction to it.

Since Manto’s writings frequently talked about women, the author discussed the issues of pay parity, women empowerment and #MeToo movement, Nawazuddin hopes for a similar effect in India.

The actor says it is time to give women the respect they deserve. “We need to introspect about the way we have treated women for centuries. It is time to change. It is time to look at them from a different perspective. We need to understand their thoughts, desires and feelings, and respect them,” said the actor.

The actor, who has made his mark in films like Gangs of Wasseypur, The Lunchbox, Liar’s Dice, Badlapur and Manjhi: The Mountain Man, will soon be seen bringing the life of writer Saadat Hasan Manto alive on the big screen with Manto, directed by Nandita Das.

The film releases on Friday.

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