Book excerpt: How Nandita Das recreated 1940s Mumbai and Lahore for her film ‘Manto’

Edited extracts from an account of the making of the 2018 biopic, starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Rasika Dugal.

Nandita Das

· Jan 30, 2020 · 10:30 am

Nandita Das: How did we get to this point where women define themselves by how they look?

It may seem unimportant in itself but the idea of beauty creates an insidious environment that women face every day and that affects our other struggles.

Nandita Das

· Mar 28, 2019 · 12:30 pm

Nandita Das on Mrinal Sen: ‘My friend, philosopher and guide, in a way few have been’

The actress and filmmaker recounts her 20-year association with the legendary Bengali director who died on December 30.

Nandita Das

· Jan 03, 2019 · 07:30 pm

Nandita Das on Pakistan’s decision to debar ‘Manto’ biopic: ‘Censorship anywhere is dangerous’

To call a film ‘anti-Partition’ is a startling way to criticise it, the director argues.

Nandita Das

· Dec 14, 2018 · 08:24 pm

Nandita Das: ‘Kuldip Nayar prevented an idealist like me from falling into the trap of cynicism’

The actor and director reflects on her friendship with the veteran journalist who died last month.

Nandita Das

· Sep 09, 2018 · 07:30 pm

Nandita Das on her trip to Pakistan: Is it anti-national to want to build bridges?

I have always felt that our perceived sense of animosity would dissipate if we made the effort to meet in flesh and blood.

Nandita Das

· Apr 10, 2018 · 08:00 am

Nandita Das on Om Puri: ‘Genuine, never putting on airs, always rooted in life’

The filmmaker had cast Om Puri as Toba Tek Singh in her upcoming production ‘Manto’.

Nandita Das

· Jan 06, 2017 · 12:45 pm

Remembering Safia Manto, the woman who stood by the writer in good times – and the many bad ones

Nandita Das pays tribute to the wife of the great writer on her birth centenary.

Nandita Das

· May 11, 2016 · 08:22 pm

Nandita Das on why Manto was the greatest flagbearer of freedom of expression

The activist and actor reminds us of Saadat Hasan Manto’s powerful legacy at the start of a new year.

Nandita Das

· Jan 02, 2016 · 08:45 am

Nandita Das: If art was not subversive, conservatives would not feel threatened

Freedom of expression fuels good and bad, but we have to take the leap of faith in the hope that only good will survive the test of time.

Nandita Das

· Oct 31, 2015 · 02:30 pm

If you haven’t seen Lahore, you haven't even been born

When actress Nandita Das crossed at the Wagah border, she found a place that was both familiar and different.

Nandita Das

· Apr 06, 2015 · 11:30 am

Manto created characters with great empathy, but how do you encapsulate his life story?

Setting out to make a film on the great Urdu writer, Nandita Das looks at his irrepressibility and his work.

Nandita Das

· Jan 09, 2015 · 12:30 pm