Actress-filmmaker Nandita Das is all set to start her upcoming film Manto from next month and says the movie is a “very big project” for her.
The biopic stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the lead role as celebrated writer Saadat Hasan Manto.
“The work is going on in full swing. We are going [into production] from March 15, so there’s a lot of work. It’s a very big project for me. It’s a period film, we will recreate [the] 1940s here,” Das told reporters.
“Nawazuddin is the lead but we have a lot of prominent names supporting the film. I am very fortunate. They are ready to do even small roles. All of the names will be out soon. I hope you’ll watch the film,” she said.
The filmmaker says the team is aiming to wrap up shooting for the film soon.
“It is an independent film, not a typical Bollywood song and dance film. We don’t have a big budget so we can’t stretch it till 200 days. We will try to shoot it as fast as we can, in a very efficient way,” she added.
Das, however, did not reveal who has replaced the late Om Puri in the film. Puri died of a heart attack on January 6.
She was speaking at the book launch of The First Storyteller by Varun Gwalani. At the event, she spoke with the author about mental health.
“We need to be unapologetic about mental illness. Mental illness is like any other illness. There are other cures. In our society we don’t even have the right vocabulary. We don’t even know how to deal with it. Either it is hushed or there is a discomfort. We just don’t have conversations about it,” she said.
“We need to have more compassion. I don’t know what mental illness is. I feel we all have some kind of mental illness. Some express it more openly, some don’t.”
