Manto- Why it’s every man’s story

Manto is not an autobiographical movie, it is a milestone in storytelling.

Saadat Hasan “Manto” is an Urdu author caught in the window of the post-independence Indo-Pak partition. The movie walks through the trails he faces for being ‘too bold’ a writer in a society torn apart by violence and identity crisis. Deeply conflicted, he defends the vulnerable endlessly, often neglecting his own needs.

The movie unravels like a spell by weaving in five of his noted works. Instead of following chronological life events, we see a man caught in a storm. We see a family with a gifted individual, who is demonized rather than heard. We see the shift in his position as religion, politics and law poison friendships. We follow his vulnerability as he battles his addictions to find his footing in an unknown world.

Nandita Das’s decade long journey to create this masterpiece was worth every moment.

Aside from the seductive rendition of the late 1940s, we sense the looming violence without a glimpse of gore. We expect a fish-eye view of an unrelatable celebrity. Instead, we find a human who is attacked for speaking the truth. And we leave the theatre, finding ourselves in a world where our truth can be just as easily lost as Manto’s.