Manto, starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui, has been selected for competition in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival 2018. This will be the film’s premiere as the release date for India has not been released yet.
Manto, directed by Nandita Das, chronicles the life of writer Saadat Hassan Manto whose ideas and writings were quite forward for those times and can still be classified under the same category.
To share the news, Nawazuddin Siddiqui tweeted, ““And it is possible that Saadat Hasan dies, but MANTO remains alive”. Glad to inform that ‘MANTO’ is selected for competition at #Cannes2018 in #UnCertainRegard section. Congratulations @nanditadas and Team #Manto”
Nandita Das also shared a post on Facebook thanking everyone for their support.
In the film, Nawazuddin Siddiqui plays the titular role of Manto. To showcase a small glimpse of Siddiqui playing the character, Das had directed the short film, In Defence of Freedom. The short film was set in Manto’s classroom and conveys his philosophy of fearlessness and the ability and courage to be truthful.
Along with Nawazuddin Siddiqui, the film also stars Paresh Rawal, Rishi Kapoor, Rasika Dugal and Tahir Raj Bhasin.
The period drama film has been written by Nandita Das and from the few stills that were released last year, one can imagine that Das and Siddiqui will surely put on a show that will impress the audience. An actor par excellence, Siddiqui, is believed to the perfect choice for playing the character whose writings have influenced students for generations and continue to be relevant in this day and age.
rasika dugal and nawazuddin siddiqui in manto Nawazuddin Siddiqui with Rasika Dugal in Manto.
Apart from Manto, Nawazuddin will also star in another biopic based on the life of Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray.
