Showing posts with label Mantostaan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mantostaan. Show all posts
It’s difficult for Ismat Chugtai's family to trust anyone-Rahat Kazmi
7:39 AM
Rahat Kazmi, who has translated Ismat Chughtai’s story on screen, says that it was cathartic for him to make the film
Kusumita Das (MID-DAY; May 27, 2018)
When Rahat Kazmi first shared the idea of making a film on Lihaaf with Tannishtha Chatterjee and Sonal Sehgal, they asked him if he would really dare to do such a thing. After all, Lihaaf has been fodder for controversy ever since Ismat Chughtai wrote it. It has been an uphill road for this Kashmiri filmmaker, who is best known for his film Mantostaan, that was based on four short stories by Saadat Hassan Manto. Kazmi’s Lihaaf, that recently unveiled its first look at the Cannes Film Festival, has the world’s attention now, especially, since Marc Baschet, Academy Award-winning producer came on board.
Things are looking much more grand than Kazmi had imagined a year ago. “I read Lihaaf for the first time as a teenager. I have always been drawn towards Urdu literature, having grown up in Kashmir. Stories of Chughtai and Manto are always fascinating. When you read them at a young age, they seem obscene, but as you grow older, you know better. My friends and I experienced something similar too. And I would keep going back to Lihaaf,” says the 36-year-old.
Having read it in English, Kazmi hunted down the Urdu version too, which was not easy given the controversy surrounding it. After it was published in 1942 in Urdu literary journal Adab-i-Latif, Chughtai had to defend herself in Lahore Court having being charged with obscenity. Kazmi’s film, in fact, starts at the point where the police comes to Chughtai’s house in [then] Bombay to summon her. “The film has two parallel tracks — that of Lihaaf, the story, and that of the trial which is the outcome of the story. It’s interesting that the story itself is a true account. Ismat’s family confirmed to me that she indeed knew a begum on whom the story was based. And later, a grown up Ismat met her when she had remarried, and had children too,” Kazmi says.
It was not easy for him to convince Chughtai’s family to grant him permission to make the film. “It’s difficult for them to trust anyone. I met her daughter Sabrina and her grandson, Ashish Sawhny. When they got to know about Mantostaan, and the recognition it got internationally, they saw in me someone they could trust,” he says.
In the film, Chatterjee plays Chughtai while Sehgal, Begum Jaan. Interestingly, Baschet wanted to associate with the film after he saw the first cut. Until then, it was an independent production shot in three months. Lihaaf, Kazmi stresses, is not as much about homosexuality as it is about alternate sexuality. “This is a common misconception. Begum Jaan falls for her masseuse Rabbo only after she fails to find love in her husband. It’s more about love and the need for physical affection.” The visuals are a mix of risqué and suggestive. “The best thing about Chughtai and Manto is that they don’t judge their characters. I have tried to do the same,” he says.
Now, as the film prepares for a world premiere — the choice is between Toronto and Venice — we ask Kazmi if he’s concerned about reactions on home ground. “For me, it was cathartic to make it. As far as controversies are concerned, let’s cross that bridge when we come to it,” he says.
FIR against Mantostaan filmmaker Rahat Kazmi by Censor Board for screening Uncensored film
7:57 AM
Subhash K Jha (DNA; April 24, 2017)
Filmmaker Rahat Kazmi who has made Mantostaan, an omnibus of four Partition stories by Urdu litterateur Sadat Hassan Manto, has landed himself in a legal soup. The film was apparently screened on Thursday evening at a theatre in Mumbai owned by a nationwide multiplex chain, without a censor certificate. And now the Censor Board of Film Certification is all set to lodge an FIR against the offending parties. CFBC chairperson Pahlaj Nihalani confirms, “We’ve received information that filmmaker Rahat Kazmi held a screening on Thursday April 20 of his new film Mantostaan without a censor certificate. This is completely illegal.” Nihalani says Mantostaan is pending censor certification. “Kazmi has submitted the film for censor certification but we haven’t issued it. How can he screen a film without a censor certification? You can’t even scream a 10-second film without a censor certificate, let alone a full length feature film.” The onus of publicly broadcasting an uncensored film lies with the content provider. Says Nihalani, “We are lodging an FIR against Kazmi, and Real Image, the content provider who provided the content for the screening to the theatre and also the multiplex, where the screening was held.”
I danced on top of a table in a Phuket club to Kaliyon Ka Chaman-Sonal Sehgal
7:52 AM
In a chat with Follo.in, the actress talks about the most fun thing she's ever done and her visit to Cannes
Noyon Jyoti Parasara (BOMBAY TIMES; May 20, 2016)
You just got back from
Cannes, where Mantostaan was screened at the Le Marché du Film. How
important is this for such a film?
It is a great platform where you can sell your dubbing rights. You can market it to foreign distributors there, who can later dub the film and release it in their countries. Our work reaches many people and the producer can make his money. I am glad more people are following this as it opens up that many doors for actors and writers to break out of the conventional Bollywood mould and do something exciting and challenging.
Manto wanted to write for films, yet it took time for his stories to make it to the screen. Why do you think so? Also, tell us about playing one of Manto's characters?
Manto's daughters had actually mailed our director, thanking him for making the film. So, contrary to my initial belief, rights were not clearly an issue. His writings were probably controversial, in the sense that his character graphs were not linear. And maybe mainstream actors, who work so hard to establish an image, might fear that if they portray such a dark character, the audience might not accept them. I assuming it would be a question of box office numbers. And there may not be too many producers willing to put their money into something like that. For me, it was a dream come true to play a Manto character.
What is the most fun thing you have done in your life?
There is this elite club in Phuket where the waiters, all trained dancers, come and ask you for a dance to get the party going. I happened to tell one of them that I am an actress in Bollywood. Next thing I know, they dragged a table to the centre of the floor, two guys lifted me up and put me on the table. I then started dancing to Kaliyon Ka Chaman to a huge audience!
It is a great platform where you can sell your dubbing rights. You can market it to foreign distributors there, who can later dub the film and release it in their countries. Our work reaches many people and the producer can make his money. I am glad more people are following this as it opens up that many doors for actors and writers to break out of the conventional Bollywood mould and do something exciting and challenging.
Manto wanted to write for films, yet it took time for his stories to make it to the screen. Why do you think so? Also, tell us about playing one of Manto's characters?
Manto's daughters had actually mailed our director, thanking him for making the film. So, contrary to my initial belief, rights were not clearly an issue. His writings were probably controversial, in the sense that his character graphs were not linear. And maybe mainstream actors, who work so hard to establish an image, might fear that if they portray such a dark character, the audience might not accept them. I assuming it would be a question of box office numbers. And there may not be too many producers willing to put their money into something like that. For me, it was a dream come true to play a Manto character.
What is the most fun thing you have done in your life?
There is this elite club in Phuket where the waiters, all trained dancers, come and ask you for a dance to get the party going. I happened to tell one of them that I am an actress in Bollywood. Next thing I know, they dragged a table to the centre of the floor, two guys lifted me up and put me on the table. I then started dancing to Kaliyon Ka Chaman to a huge audience!
Film based on Saadat Hasan Manto's stories Mantostaan goes to Cannes
7:41 AM
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 12, 2016)
Two years after Identity Card, director Rahat Kazmi is back with his next. Mantostaan is a dark satire based on four Saadat Hasan Manto's stories. The Pakistani writer, playwright and author is considered among the greatest writers of short stories in South Asia. Thanda Gosht, Khol Do, Akhri Salute and The Assignment are among his most controversial shorts.
"These are four different stories which we have woven together with the Partition as the backdrop. Once I read Manto I was hooked and wondered why nobody has ever filmed these stories before," says Rahat.
Mantostaan has been shot in Punjab and Jammu. It will be screened in the Le Marche du Film category at the Cannes International Film Festival. "We always wanted to send our film to Cannes and planned the schedule so we could get the entry there in time. The festival can help us reach out to a global audience. Some of us will be at the May 11 screening and we are really excited," he exults.
Rahat spent six months on research, meeting historians, journalists and writers to understand the right approach to the film. Dr Bhanu Pratap Singh, his creative producer and a historian was a big help.
Isn't he afraid that given the controversial nature of his stories his film could land into problems? "Our society has evolved and topics earlier considered taboo are now being openly discussed," he reasons.
Raghubir Yadav, Sonal Sehgal and Shoib Kazmi play pivotal roles. Rahat was categorical that he didn't want stars who come with their own image. "Raghubir plays a troubled father who has lost a child. He didn't sleep or bathe for days before the shoot," says Rahat, who wrapped up last December.
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