Manto

Awards

• No award information available.

Trivia

Album

• This was a biopic of the Urdu writer Saadat Hasan Manto who was active between the 1930s and 1950s. The film featured Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Manto, Rasika Dugal as his wife Safia, and Tahir Raj Bhasin as his close friend, Hindi film actor Shyam.
• This was Nandita Das's first Hindi feature film as a director after "Firaaq" (2009). The film was preceded by the release of a short film titled "In Defence of Freedom" at the India Today Conclave, 2017. Like this film, the short was directed by Das and featured Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Saadat Hasan Manto. In 2020, Das published a coffee-table book titled "Manto & I" describing her discovery of Manto and how he and his work inspired her.[1][2][3]
• In 2015, Nandita Das had considered Irrfan Khan for the titular role which was eventually played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui.[4][5]
• Music director Sneha Khanwalkar, known for her penchant for electronic music and experimental sounds, was asked by director Nandita Das to not use electronic music for the film's songs. Despite the brief, Khanwalkar "still managed to slip in some electronic" in the songs.[6]
• Many of the film's prominent actors worked in it for free. This included Rishi Kapoor, Javed Akhtar, Ranvir Shorey, Gurdas Maan, Divya Dutta, Purab Kohli, Rajshri Deshpande, and Swanand Kirkire. Nawazuddin Siddiqui took a notional fee of Re. 1 for the titular role.[7]

Song

• Ban Titli (Gratis) - Sneha Khanwalkar had composed this song a decade ago for a shelved Dibakar Banerjee film.[8]
• Bol Ke Lab Azaad Hain - This was singer Vidya Shah's debut Hindi film song.

1. ^ Firaaq (2009)
2. ^ Nawazuddin Siddiqui transforms into Saadat Hasan Manto, defends freedom. Watch video
3. ^ Manto & I: The journey
4. ^ Irrfan is Nandita's Manto
5. ^ Nawazuddin Siddiqui excited to play Manto
6. ^ Sneha Khanwalkar's Quest To Find Her Groove
7. ^ Nawazuddin Siddiqui charged Re 1 for Manto, Rishi Kapoor did it for free
8. ^ Everything is musical for composer Sneha Khanwalkar (as long as it's 'interesting')