Manto () is a 2015 Pakistani biographical drama film based on the life of Pakistani short-story writer Sadat Hassan Manto, starring Sarmad Khoosat in the title role. It was directed by Khoosat himself, produced by Babar Javed, and written by Shahid Nadeem, whose screenplay was adapted from Manto's short stories, particularly "Thanda Gosht", "Madari", "License", "Hatak" and "Peshawar Se Lahore". It also depicts his relationship with singer-actress Noor Jehan. The film was released on 11 September 2015, sixty years after Manto's death.
The full-length official trailer was released on 29 August 2015. The motion trailer along with film music was released on 6 August 2015. The TV series on the life of writer entitled Main Manto with the same cast and production, initially made in 2012, was aired in December 2015.
Plot
The story is about a 20th-century writer, Manto (played by Sarmad Khoosat), who grew up in the showbiz industry of Bombay (now Mumbai) and Lahore. It focuses the last seven years of the writer's life, during which he wrote some of his most controversial stories, such as "Thanda Gosht", "Toba Tek Singh", "License", "Upar, Neechay aur Darmiyan" and "Peshawar Se Lahore". For these, Manto had to face charges of obscenity thrice.
Cast
Sarmad Khoosat as Saadat Hasan Manto
Sania Saeed as Safiya Manto
Saba Qamar as Noor Jehan
Danyal Adam Khan as Hamid Jalal
Adnan Jaffar as Qudrat Ullah Shahab
Shamoon Abbasi as Eishar Singh
Aliee Shaikh as Khuda Bakash
Tipu Sharif as Shaukat Hussain Rizvi
Talha Mufti as Nawaz
Arjumand Rahim as Nazneen (a Tawaif) Hina Khawaja Bayat as Begum Sahiba Rehan Sheikh as Mian Saheb Faisal Qureshi as Radio Actor Mizna Waqas as Minal Nadia Afghan as Saugandhi Savera Nadeem Nimra Bucha Irfan Khoosat Afraz Rasool Shakeel Hussain Khan as Manto's Doctor Yasra Rizvi as Balwant Kaur Qaiser Naqvi as Sardar Begum Mahira Khan as Madaran (appeared in screen credits and in the song "Kya Hoga") Azfar Rehman as a Passenger (appeared in screen credits and in the song "Kya Hoga") Humayun Saeed (cameo appearance in screen credits) Mohammed Hanif (guest appearance) Suhaee Abro (appearance in the song "Kaun Hai Ye Gustakh" in an opening scene) Vajdan Shah (appearance in the song "Kaun Hai Ye Gustakh" in an opening scene)
Soundtrack
The music album was released on 6 August 2015, at a Blue Carpet event held at Nueplex Cinema, Karachi by distributors Geo Entertainment and Geo Films. The soundtrack, including background score, sound mixing, editing and original songs, was composed by Jamal Rahman of True Brew Records. Khoosat, who hired Rahman after hearing his work for Mira Nair's The Reluctant Fundamentalist, said, "I want to make it yours and run with it." Three of the four songs are taken from famous poets, including Majeed Amjad, Mirza Ghalib and Indian Punjabi poet Shiv Kumar Batalvi. One song was written by Muhammad Hanif. One song of the film, sung by Ustad Salamt Ali Nazar, was neither revealed nor announced at the launch. The soundtrack was praised for its classical genre, strong lyrics and soulful music composition.
Track listing
Release
Initially the film was scheduled to release in late 2014 but was postponed due to delays in post-production. The first teaser trailer was released on 6 August 2015, for limited special screening. The official trailer was released online on 29 August 2015. Manto was released on 11 September 2015 in Pakistan under the banners of Geo Films. Before theatrical release in the US, the film was screened at three of eight Ivy League institutions, including Harvard University, Columbia University, Yale University and the University of California, Berkeley between 16 and 25 October.
Reception
Box Office
Below is the film's Weekly breakdown..
Week One.. 1.58cr
Week Two.. 1.77cr
Week Three.. 67lacs
Week Four + Week Five.. 57lacs
Week Six.. 20lacs
Week Seven*.. 11lacs
Week Eight Onward.. 15lacs
Total.. 5.03cr
Critical reception
The film has been positively received by critics, with Dawns Mehreen Hasan calling it "A darkly perfect biopic". Blasting News Adnan Murad stated, "With an interestingly intricate premise, 'Manto' depicts the life of an accomplished writer of the subcontinent. The movie clearly rests on the shoulders of supremely talented Sarmad, who eloquently plays Manto." Galaxy Lollywood gave it 4.4 out of 5 stars, calling it "As big of a must watch for every Pakistani as perhaps Jamil Dehlavi's Jinnah was."