Manto takes centerstage

There have been several interpretations of Saadat Hasan Manto’s life. From movies to the theatre, while there have been several portrayals of the Urdu writer, theatre director Randhir Ranjan Roy’s Ek Haan not only brings Manto’s life story to the stage but also includes two of his famous stories. “There are already thousands of plays being done on the stories of Manto from the time he has written them. But I am presenting Manto himself from that era on the stage along with his stories. The idea is that people get connected to Manto himself and to a couple of his stories,” shares Roy.

While the director took almost a year to work on the script, actor Shekhar Suman who is essaying the role of Manto researched for over three months to understand his character. “Manto was anti-establishmentarian, was fed-up with the ills of the society. He was a short story writer and through his stories and characters, he exposed the hypocrisy of the society. That is what he mastered in and of course, ran into trouble. He was a maverick and wrote what he felt like; He was always up against the system and establishment putting them in an uncomfortable state,” illustrates Suman.

For the Utsav actor, who finds the controversial writer courageous and at the same time aggressive, believes that he too is a rebel. “I am enjoying rehearsing for the character and identify with it completely. The element of irreverence has been in me from the beginning. Even through my show Movers & Shakers, I would stand up and speak. I became the representative of the common man and represented their sentiments in my show,” says the actor who has painted a picture of Manto that is completely his own interpretation.

Also in the play is actress Suchitra Krishnamoorti essaying the role of a Kashmiri journalist who chooses to stay back in India, when Manto leaves for Pakistan. “My character goes on to understand Manto and his life. She then comes to terms with her own reality through his experience of trying to understand himself, his country, and life,” explains Krishnamoorti.

While she has always been intrigued by the way Manto viewed his woman characters, the actress’ biggest challenge is learning Urdu.

When asked about his preparations to be more like Manto on stage, Suman laughs saying that he is practicing on his anger every day. “But one has to feel the spirit, understand the psyche and emotion of the character. That is what I am trying to do through his work, writing and the characters he has sketched. At the same time, you draw a lot from life and the people around you. But with Manto, there is no reference so I am trying to illustrate him in my own way, as an actor would do in his imaginative manner,” he says.

Since the play presents two of Manto’s famous stories, played by the same actors, the director believes the biggest challenge is for the actors.  

“The actors are the characters of the play, plus they are the character of the stories as well. It will be amazing to see the same actors getting into different characters at the same time,” shares Roy.

However, Krishnamoorti finds the transactions fascinating. “To play this very stateless journalist and then to go on to play a role of a prostitute, as an actor it is a very interesting challenge,” she says.

Talking about introducing the story of Manto, which otherwise has already been portrayed in various ways, Roy tells that there is a very thin line between reality and fiction. “Reality about the things that Manto has written in his life and what I am presenting, there is a very thin line of fiction, thin as negligible. So we are representing whatever Manto has written. Everyone says that Manto writes only what he has experienced. So in a way, we are very close to the reality of what we are presenting on the stage,” he asserts.

As to why people should watch Ek Haan, the director and actors are of the opinion that it is for one to explore the entertainment aspect within the literature. “Present generation doesn’t know who Manto was. Between India and Hindustan, he was the greatest ever short story writer whom people have forgotten,” concludes Suman.