Geo Films ‘Manto’ honours legendary writer

KARACHI: Previously, several dramas and short films have been dedicated to the legendary writer of Urdu literature, Saadat Hassan Manto, but this will be the first time that a Manto movie will hit the silver screens shortly. Written by Shahid Nadeem and directed by Sarmad Sultan Khoosat, the film will unleash the writer’s journey of life after the Independence of Pakistan. Also, the plot of his biopic is aimed to eradicate the misunderstandings about Manto that the society upholds. What’s more, the coveted avatar of Manto in the movie is donned by Sarmad himself. Alongside him is the crème of the nation’s entertainment industry featuring Sania Saeed as Manto’s wife, Saba Qamar as Noor Jehan, Hina Bayat, Mahira Khan, Nimra Bucha, Humayun Saeed, Savera Nadeem and Faisal Qureshi and many more. The veteran voices of Misha Shafi, Zeb Bangash, Javed Bashir and Ali Sethi have attended to the movie’s playlist. The soundtrack including background score, sound mixing, editing and original songs of film are composed by Jamal Rahman of True Brew Records.
Khoosat who hired the Jamal after listing his work for Mira Nair’s ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’, said, “I want to make it yours and run with it.” Three of four songs are taken from famous poets including Majeed Amjad, Mirza Ghalib and Indian Punjabi poet Shiv Kumar Batalvi while one song is penned down by Muhammad Hanif. One song of film sung by Ustad Salamt Ali Nazar was neither revealed nor announced at the launch. The soundtrack of film was praised for its classical genre, strong lyrics and soulful music composition.
Manto will raise the curtain in the cinemas of Pakistan on September 11. With just a few days to its release, there is a visual treat for all fans of highly awaited biopic, Manto: the official trailer is finally out. Directed by Sarmad Sultan Khoosat, the film has Sarmad playing Manto followed by a stellar cast for various roles from the iconoclast’s life and short stories.