On city stage, story of Manto and turbulent times he lived in

GURUGRAM: Today, his name may be on everyone’s lips but for Ashwath Bhatt,

Saadat Hasan Manto

has been a companion for much of his adult life. “I’ve been doing it since when nobody wanted to touch Manto,” the actor told TOI.

After nine years away from the city, during which time he has featured in ‘Raazi’ and ‘Haider’ (among other films), Bhatt returns to Gurugram to perform his critically acclaimed ‘Ek Mulaqat

Manto

Se’, which, unlike many productions around Manto, takes inspiration from his articles rather than his stories (though those are in there, too), to present this man’s life, warts and all, and the turbulent times he lived in.

“It is a big challenge,” admits Bhatt. “To make it a performance text, you need to see that it really works, because people are coming to watch a play, they’re not coming for a book reading.”

Manto’s writings bring to the surface home truths, facts of our history and psyche we’d rather turn away from. Because hypocricy, believes Bhatt, is in our DNA. “We don’t want to talk about things which are difficult, like Partition. (That’s) because we’ve learnt nothing from Partition,” he claims.

“If we had learnt from Partition, then Kashmir wouldn’t have happened, Gujarat (2002) wouldn’t have happened, so many communal riots wouldn’t have happened,” he said

It was the chilling ‘Thanda Gosht’ that was Bhatt’s introduction to Manto, back in 1997. And his work, he found, spoke to him powerfully. “The more I was reading Manto, the more I felt these are my stories — I felt he’s telling me my stories, he’s telling me my pain,” he remembers. “I’m a victim of violence. I belong to Kashmir, so I’ve seen violence first hand — seeing houses burnt, people killed, I know all this.”

Like an apparition, Manto continues to remind us of our failings, our lack of empathy and gratitude, and our unrelenting cold-shoulder of humanity. And it’s only through confronting that image in the mirror can we exorcise the demons of the past. “The day Manto becomes irrelevant, we will have learnt our lessons,” insists this National School of Drama alumnus.

Interestingly, Bhatt has a cameo in Nandita Das’s ‘Manto’, which circumstance he attributes to destiny. “To be cast as the last person, it’s divine intervention — or rather, ‘Manto’ intervention!”

Up next is ‘Kesari’, a film in which, Bhatt swears, he will go unrecognised. But ‘Ek Mulaqat Manto Se’, always evolving, will remain close to his heart. Since he first presented it, in London in 2002, it has travelled wide and far. “As long as I’m alive, and able to perform, I will do this show.”

‘Ek Mulaqat Manto Se’ is being staged at the V Club (Sector 48, Sohna Road) on October 6 (7.45pm), with a double bill scheduled for Oddbird Theatre (Chhatarpur, Delhi) on October 7 (4.30pm and 7pm).


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