Direction : Naseeruddin Shah Writer : Saadat Hasan Manto and Ismat Chughtai Cast : Ratna Pathak Shah, Imaad Shah, Sayan Banerjee, Sahil Vaid, Heeba Shah and Dhruv Kalra
MANTO... ISMAT HAZIR HAIN ! Review
Everyone likes a good writer. And rediscovering good writers is even better. Saadat Hasan Manto and Ismat Chughtai are two such writers whose work, Naseeruddin Shah's Motley have revived.
MANTO ISMAT HAZIR HAIN features two short stories by Manto, and a short story and essay by Chughtai. Shah has picked the writers' most controversial short stories, ones that almost got them imprisoned in the 1940s. The idea behind it is to question the very hypocrisy of those who condem others on charges of obscenity.
The short stories are performed as monologues while the essay has been presented as a skit. Manto's Bu (Odour), performed by Ankur Vikal, borders on erotica and is about a man's one night stand with a 'bhangan' woman. Obsessed with the smell of her body, neither sweet like attar, nor stale like body odour, he tries to find it on his own wife years later, but fails.
Titwal Ka Kutta, performed by Rakesh Chaturwedi takes place in a scenic backdrop somewhere near the Indo-Pak border. Chappar Jhumjhum, a dog, makes friends with a bunch of bored Indian soldiers who fall in love with him on condition that he is a "Hindustani kutta". But unbeknownst to them the dog is also friends with their counterparts on the Pakistani side. The monologue is a tragicomic satire of army camps, and of what happens when a poor dog dares to love everyone.
Lihaaf (Quilt), with Heeba Shah, is one of Ismat Chugtai's finest stories. A little girl learns why her mother's closest friend isn't ruffled up by her husband's blatant homosexuality when she is left in her care for a few days.
Un Byaahataon Ke Naam performed by all the cast members, including Darshan Gandas and Imran Rashid, is based on Ismat's essay on the trial that she and Manto are put on in the Lahore High Court. It is a hilariously clever account of the ordeal both writers were put through.
Shah's direction is excellent and he couldn't have picked a better set of actors to perform the monologues. Not for a minute does it feel like the actors are just rambling on and about. They take the audience on a vivid journey through their recitals, acting out several parts and emotions.
True, the language (Hindustani) is a little tough to comprehend at first. But in a few minutes, you begin to understand by association, and in certain cases, the actors explain difficult words in English or simplified Hindi.
MANTO ISMAT HAAZIR HAIN is a must watch if you want to journey back in time to rediscover an India that was different, yet so similar to the present. Courage, not obscenity is what these writers are all about.
In a time when most South Asian writers are parading their skills in the English language, experiencing these two Indian Urdu writers from the past is refreshing. And to watch them being performed in their own language is an authentic experience of words, thoughts and metaphors. The show leaves you satisfied, knowing that nothing has been lost in translation.
