Nandita Das's hunt for the leading man for her second directorial, the Saadat Hasan Manto biopic, has ended with Irrfan Khan, who she believes is the perfect fit for the role. “Irrfan fits the role to the T as he speaks fluent Urdu, looks a lot like Manto and, above all, is a wonderful actor. He has read a lot of Manto himself and is influenced by him. He once confided in me, 'Manto karne ke liye to koi qabar se bhi uth ke aa jae,'“ says Nandita whose screen play focuses on seven years of the writer's life before and after the Partition.

She is co-writing the script with Mir Ali Hussain and hopes to get permissions to shoot in Pakistan. “It is an intimate telling of that period set in Mumbai and Lahore seen through the eyes of an engaged and intense writer. No Indian or international film set in Pakistan has ever been shot there. I really hope to film there so that I can make it more authentic and also to change this perception of fear and animosity. After all they shoot their own films there,“ says Nandita, who featured in the 2008 Pakistani drama Ramchand Pakistani.

She admits there's a lot of cynicism surrounding her subject. “People told me that the youth don't even know Manto. I don't agree. I think there is a sense of revival in the story. The younger generation is growing curious about his life,“ she explains, adding that a biopic can be interesting despite the perception that they are like the boring Film Division films that used to play before a feature in the '80s when people took loo breaks. “Sometimes we have too many labels and that stops us from giving something new a chance.“ she insists.

She points out that social media and other digital avenues are changing the way people look at independent cinema and hopes she will get more roles she likes soon. “I am not ambitious about acting. I want to do different things but either the scripts are of no interest to me or the ones I love are struggling for funding,“ she laments.

Earlier this year, the director of the Rotterdam International Film Festival, Rutger Wolfson, offered her a full-time position. “We were at the Busan Film Festival and he told me that after I wrapped up Manto, he had a job for me as I have the sensibilities and the contacts to help budding filmmakers find producers and mentor their scripts. I'd love to,“ she beams.