“I don’t want any disturbance. I want to have some rest today,” Manto says to his wife while going to his room. He then locks the door. After a while his voice-over starts while he is vomiting blood, writing on the walls, and eventually Saadat Hassan Manto reaches his demise.
The writer’s middle daughter Nuzhat finds the scene overly dramatic. “In the end they have shown a lot of blood. Whereas, that was not the case. He just vomited once and that’s it! The way they have shown that blood is coming out of his mouth; that was too much!”
Nuzhat Manto who has been a teacher by profession for 26 years has a few objections with the film.
“They have given their own touches at some places. For instance, in the hospital scene when the courtesan comes to give money; there was no such thing where my mother took money from the courtesan.”
Nuzhat, a very friendly woman, who welcomed Pakistan Today with a smile revealed some facts about the writer which have either been ignored or changed in the film.
“He was sent to the mental hospital on his own insistence. He told his nephew to take him because, ‘I want to get off alcoholism,’ he said. So they say that’s why we took him.” reveals Nuzhat. “He just went once. But in the movie they have shown him there in the beginning as well as the end,” she said.
Toba Tek Singh, one of Manto’s most famous works came after his stay in the mental hospital. Nuzhat says that this proves that he was a sane man.
“He wrote his best masterpiece there,” she smiles. “You see, he was a sane man. He was not insane. He just wanted to get off his alcoholism. Actually in those days there were no rehabs. One had to go to the mental hospital.”
The film is said to be a reflection of Saadat Hassan Manto but Sarmad Khoosat took liberty with some of the details about him.
“He never used to go on a bike. He always used tonga. They have shown him using tonga only once or twice.”
“Abba jaan was very fond of chappals. They have shown him in rubber slippers. I have a great objection over that. He was a very cultivated person (nifasat pasand) and throughout the film they have shown him wearing rubber slippers.”
Nevertheless she agrees that exaggerations are a part of film and hence she has no issue with that. “I mean beta, it happens in films. It’s alright,” she says.
When Manto moved to Pakistan after Partition, he used to live in Lakshmi Mansion. “Lakshmi Mansion, the place where he used to live, has not been shown in the film.” says Nuzhat.
But the revival of Manto was not bad, Nuzhat agrees. She loved the direction and really liked the representation of Manto’s stories.
“Thanda Gosht was presented beautifully. Khol do; that was also beautiful. Even the other stories were wonderful.” she says.
What really struck her was the performance by Sania Saeed, who played the role of Manto’s wife Safia.
“Sania as our mother was very good!” she exclaimed. “There is not much written about her. Plenty has been written about Manto so you can make out the person he was. But Sania knew nothing about our mother. I told Sarmad that whenever she feels like she can talk to us. She said that she was dying to meet us so that she could ask us regarding the role but she never got the chance to connect with us. I told her ‘you have done full justice!’ Her expressions were amazing!”
Safia Manto was a very patient woman, Nuzhat describes her mother.
“She had a lot of patience. I mean once she went to the publishers to ask for royalty. They responded, ‘tusi tay ais tarhan karday ho jiwain jaidaad baichdo tay tussi paisay mangan aa jao. (It is like you sell your property and then come asking for money).’
“Think about it.” she says. “And abba jaan (father) used to say, ‘main ainna likh kay ja raya aan k tun pukkhi nai maray gi (I’m leaving so many writings behind that you will not die starving).’ If we didn’t have family support then this would have been the case.”
Asking about her contribution in the film she replied, “Nothing special; in the beginning he came for the first time for a day. He asked how he used to sit. That is all.”
Manto spent most of his life in India until he moved to Pakistan after partition in 1948 and died seven years later in 1955. However, the film focuses only on the last four years of his life.
“Actually they were very important years, the years after Partition. He used to say ‘don’t call it partition, call it batwara.’ I think those days were very significant.”
It is during his time after partition that Manto produced his famous and most controversial work; Thanda Gosht, Uper Neechay aur Darmiyan, License, Khol do and Peshawar Say Lahore. Sadly he had to face the charges of obscenity.
Manto had to face a lot of rejection because of his controversial work. But Nuzhat doesn’t take it as rejection.
“It wasn’t rejection. Actually he knew deep inside. He used to say ‘ai jairay moulvi nay na, gusal khanay ch war k tay mairi storian parhday nay. (These Moulvis read my stories while hiding in the washroom). He was so sure of himself! He was a genius! He knew that they didn’t want to accept it. They didn’t want to come out.”
The film ends with Manto’s epitaph that he wrote for his grave.
In his original epitaph Manto had these words engraved, ‘In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful, here lies Saadat Hassan Manto and with him lie buried all the secrets of the art of storytelling in his chest. Weighed down by the earth he wonders still: Who is the greater writer, God or he?’
But now one will find the epitaph engraved with the words, ‘Yeh Saadat Hasan Manto ki qabr ki qabr he Yahan Manto jo aaj bhi ye samajhta hay kay wo loh-e-Jahan per harf-e-muqarar nahi tha. (This is the grave of Saadat Hasan Manto’s grave who still believes his name belonged on the cosmic stone).’
One wonders, what happened?
“I wanted it to stay the same,” says Nuzhat. “He was such an intelligent man; he knew there would be rejection. He had prepared the second one also himself.”
There is no doubt that the film Manto was a point of awareness for its audience. It was indeed a true reflection of the writer. However, some facts were either missing, manipulated, exaggerated or fictionalized.
Manto never went to the ice factory when he was issued the license to sell ice. “He had applied for a publishing house so he could publish his work himself. It is true that he was handed over a license to sell ice instead. But the fact that he actually went to the factory didn’t happen. Do you think he would go there for 10 rupees? It was against his ego.” says Nuzhat.
In the film Noor Jahan is invited to the birthday party of Manto’s nephew. Whereas in reality it was the birthday of the adopted son of a friend of Manto’s that Noor Jahan went to. Also, the party took place at Manto’s house in Lakshmi Mansion. “I don’t know what made them think that. Actually they haven’t done research.”
‘NOT A CONVENTIONAL BIOPIC’:
Sarmad Khoosat accepted that he had fictionalized parts of the film.
“This is not a conventional biopic: It is a fictional version of a small part of Manto’s life, inspired by real life events and his works,” Sarmad has told Times of India in a previous interview.
Talking about the impact the fictionalisation can have on the reputation of a person, Mohammed Farooq, Nuzhat’s son and Manto’s grandson says that he is ready to ignore some of the facts but not all of them.
“They have depicted a few things wrong. I have issue with the hospital portion; it is shown that my Nani (grandmother) is receiving money from the courtesan. I had a little objection with that. Moreover, he never went to the brothels. In the film he is being welcomed with garlands when he visits a brothel. That is also fictionalized,” says Mohammed.
“Other facts such as Manto riding a bike, which he never did, are minor. They don’t matter that much. But this thing matters. Sarmad said that he has fictionalised a lot of parts in the film. I am ready to ignore rest of the things but not this. You are portraying wrong image of a person and this will remain in people’s mind.”
