Muscled up: Nawaz excited to play Manto
Actor says role in upcoming period film will be challenging
Siddiqui will be essaying the titular role in the Nandita Das directorial. PHOTO: FILE
MUMBAI:
Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui is excited to bring to life Pakistani writer Saadat Hasan Manto on the silver screen through film-maker Nandita Das’s upcoming project.
Nandita will be tracing the life of Manto with her new directorial that also focuses on Partition. At the ongoing Cannes Film Festival, the critically-acclaimed actor announced that Nawazuddin will play the titular role in her upcoming movie.
“Manto was a very famous writer of the 50s and I am excited to play him, making this a rather interesting project. When Nandita discussed this with me at Cannes, I was drawn to the interesting challenge of doing a period drama,” Nawazuddin said.
The ‘Raman Raghav’ within
Nandita, who co-wrote the film with Mir Ali Hussain, had earlier said that actor Irrfan Khan was “seriously looking at the script” as he’s a big fan of the Pakistani short story writer.
Manto, who died in 1955 at the age of 43, produced an impressive body of work touching various genres. Pakistani film-maker Sarmad Khoosat has already made a film on him and it was screened at the 21st Kolkata International Film Festival last year.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 23rd, 2016.
Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui is excited to bring to life Pakistani writer Saadat Hasan Manto on the silver screen through film-maker Nandita Das’s upcoming project.
Nandita will be tracing the life of Manto with her new directorial that also focuses on Partition. At the ongoing Cannes Film Festival, the critically-acclaimed actor announced that Nawazuddin will play the titular role in her upcoming movie.
“Manto was a very famous writer of the 50s and I am excited to play him, making this a rather interesting project. When Nandita discussed this with me at Cannes, I was drawn to the interesting challenge of doing a period drama,” Nawazuddin said.
The ‘Raman Raghav’ within
Nandita, who co-wrote the film with Mir Ali Hussain, had earlier said that actor Irrfan Khan was “seriously looking at the script” as he’s a big fan of the Pakistani short story writer.
Manto, who died in 1955 at the age of 43, produced an impressive body of work touching various genres. Pakistani film-maker Sarmad Khoosat has already made a film on him and it was screened at the 21st Kolkata International Film Festival last year.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 23rd, 2016.