Portrait of a writer: The refugee, ‘pagal' and Bollywood star who is bringing Manto to Pune

Indian Express

25-07-2025

Lakshmi Mansion, an old building in the iconic Mall Road of Lahore, used to attract a certain kind of people, who came asking for 'Hazrat Manto'. They had turned the Indo-Pakistani writer Saadat Hasan Manto into a pir (holy man). One day, a young theatre actor from Delhi turned up at the door, looking for memories, anecdotes, and a feeling. He stayed with the family and had long conversations with them, visited the grave of Manto, and slept where the writer used to sit. 'Tum jaisa pagal nahi dekha hai koi (I have not seen a crazy person like you),' Manto's daughter, Nighat Patel, told him.
The actor was Ashwath Bhatt, whose intense eyes had witnessed untold horrors in his own homeland. Bhatt was a part of the Kashmiri Pandit exodus from Srinagar in the early 1990s. As refugees, his family was struggling badly. He himself was disturbed, angry, and a mess. That's when Bhatt happened to pick up a book by Manto. 'When I read it, it just hit me out of the blue. It was like a big, big jolt. I wondered who this guy was. All I was seeing in my environment at that time of my life, if I use one word, it would be 'hypocrisy'. I related a lot to what this chap, Manto, was saying,' says Bhatt.
It was also a time that Bhatt was growing into theatre, the only space where he used to forget all his insecurities and troubles and just focus on the rehearsal or whatever exercises his director had asked him to do. He did a play of a Manto story, Thanda Gosht, which was a runaway hit in Delhi. It was only a matter of time before Bhatt would think of a play that would be not only about Manto's stories but the writer himself.
Ek Mulaqat Manto Se was born in 1998, whose first audiences were Bhatt's friends at the National School of Drama (NSD), India's top theatre training academy. Bhatt, though, did not stage the play publicly. He kept developing it, researching every nuance, adding and honing its details. He stayed with the story even as he graduated from NSD and was selected to join the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. At last, in 2002, Ek Mulaqat Manto Se opened at the Nehru Centre in London to acclaim. Bhatt, now a famous Bollywood actor based in Mumbai, will bring the play to Pune's The Box on July 26 (Saturday), 7 pm.
Ek Mulaqat Manto Se is in two parts, pre-and post-Independence. The writer, who chronicled the horrors and abuse of the Partition, ensuring that the world never forgets, is at the centre of Bhatt's play. The narrative revolves around Manto's childhood, family, and friends, the persecution he faced, and his self-ridicule. It talks about Manto's depression and drinking, his time in Bollywood, before the Hindi film industry was called that, and the irony, hypocrisy, and moral decay of the society that he satirized in his works.
'Manto is known for his irreverent writing, holding up a mirror to society, especially at ugly times. He is hailed as one of Urdu's finest and most controversial writers. The performance is based on articles written by Manto,' says Bhatt. He plays Manto and addresses the audience directly in an effort to answer the question: 'Why I write what I write?'
Ek Mulaqat Manto Se is being revived after five years, and Bhatt keeps adding and changing it. 'I will keep doing the play till I am dead. It will end with me, or when I am creatively dead and cannot perform,' he says. Bhatt adds that Laxmi Mansion was redeveloped for commercial establishments. 'The house was not saved or made into a foundation or preserved as a museum. What they did was give Manto the Nishan-e-Imtiaz, Pakistan's highest civilian honour, in 2012. Manto would have laughed,' says Bhatt.
Dipanita Nath is interested in the climate crisis and sustainability. She has written extensively on social trends, heritage, theatre and startups. She has worked with major news organizations such as Hindustan Times, The Times of India and Mint. ... Read More