Ashwath Bhatt brings to life Manto's story on Jaipur stage

Dim lights, antique furniture, Beghum Akhtar’s ghazal Ab Chhalakte Huye Sagar being played in the background and the auditorium filled with an aromatic scent of incense sticks – such was the setting of the

play Ek Mulaqat Manto Se

that was staged at the Rangayan auditorium of

Jawahar Kala Kendra

on Friday. Conceived and performed by actor Ashwath Bhatt, seen in films like Raazi and Manto, the play was presented by the Actors’ Cult in collaboration with the Theatre Garage Project. The play – a solo act by Ashwath – reflects on the life and time of legendary Urdu writer

Saadat Hasan Manto

by combining texts from Manto, Main Afsana Kyun Kar Likhta Hoon, Khol Do, Kal Sawera Jo Meri Aankh Khuli,

Toba Tek Singh

and Deewaron Pe Likhna. Using both third-person and first-person narrative, the play explores the life of Manto, what he thinks of himself, the time he witnessed during the partition of India and Pakistan and how he was charged with obscenity for his stories, particularly Khol Do.

Ashwath Bhatt staged the play

Ek Mulaqat Manto Se

– a solo act – and impressed the audience with his acting prowess (Shalini Maheshwari/BCCL)

In one of the scenes, Ashwath, dressed like Manto in a white kurta and pyjama with a shawl wrapped around his shoulders, in third-person narrative, calls Manto a fraud and how he didn’t publish his first story Tamasha under his own name. “Woh (Manto) awwal darje ka fraud hai. Usne apna pehla afsana Tamasha likha jo Jallianwala Bagh ke khooni hadse se mutaqib tha. Lekin yeh usne apne naam se na chhapwaya. Log kehte hai ki woh Urdu ka bahut bada adeeb hai and mai ye sunke bahut hasta hoon kyunki Urdu use ab bhi nahi aati,” says the actor during the play, which had dialogues in Urdu and Hindi.

The play further ponders upon his relationship with his wife who shared his birthday and wore glasses like him and how she used to often tell Manto, ‘Afsana nigari chhod do, koi dukaan khol lo’.

As the play moves on, Ashwath narrates a dramatic version of Khol Do and leaves it to the audience to decide if it’s obscene or relevant. The actor then moves around on the stage asking for Toba Tek Singh, a no man’s land between India and Pakistan. For the uninitiated, Toba Tek Singh is Manto’s iconic story revolving around Bishen Singh, a Sikh inmate of an asylum in Lahore, who as part of the exchange between India and Pakistan, ends up in a no man’s land called Toba Tek Singh between the two countries. Ashwath then takes the audience to Manto’s shift to Lahore after the partition and how reluctantly he says ‘Pakistan Zindabaad’, a slogan written in every nook and corner of the bazaar. The play ended with a sher by Daag Dehlavi and received a standing ovation from the people.

Some dialogues in the play were so impressive that the audience couldn’t resist themselves from breaking into applause and saying, ‘Kya baat!’ “Kisi ko jaane bina logon ne apni opinion bana li hai. Someone told me that there’s a book called Manto Ke Ashleel Afsaane. Manto didn’t publish that book, someone else did to mint money. I would urge people to first read Manto and then form an opinion about him,” said Ashwath to the audience.

Audience watching the play

Ankita Mehta, a graphic designer who attended the play said, “I was giving this show a miss, but I am glad that I didn’t. The play was amazing with perfect dialogues and stirring emotions.” “I have read Manto’s stories and thus I could relate to the play. It was phenomenal. There were both serious and light moments. I enjoyed watching the play," said Nakul Sharma, a businessman who came alone to attend the show.