Nandita Das returns behind the camera for the second time after a gap of more than a decade with Manto. The biopic of the famous Indo-Pakistani author Saddat Manto Hussain, the movie has Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the lead. Rasika Duggal plays his wife, while the movie also stars Tahir Raj Bhasin, Ila Arun, Rajashri Deshpande and Rishi Kapoor (in a cameo appearance). The film chronicles four years of Manto’s life — two years before the Partition and two years after that — the most creative yet the most turbulent period for the writer.

Manto has been selected from India to be a part of the 71st Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section. It will also double up as the movie's world premiere. Nawazuddin Siddiqui, director Nandita Das and the cast and crew were a part of the premiere. Going by reports from the Cannes, the movie has got standing ovations after the screening was over.

We also got a couple of early reviews, where Manto has been praised for the performances, especially of the lead star Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Nandita Das's director also got glowing feedback, though there was a general complaint that in handling different threads, Manto lacks a sharp focus. Here are excerpts from a couple of reviews -

Screen Daily says, "Das has assembled a first-rate crew, with Rita Ghosh’s atmospheric production design a particular stand out. The contrast between the well-appointed privilege of life among Mumbai’s literary elite and the blighted, scarred streets of Lahore is stark. It mirrors the change in Manto’s increasingly embattled state of mind. Always impressive, Siddiqui is as commanding presence as Manto, particularly in an extended courtroom sequence in which the writer defends himself against the latest accusations of moral failure. The story at the centre of the court case, Cold Meat, is enacted on screen with an unflinching candour which is arresting, but jars tonally with the rest of the film."

Baradwaj Rangan From Film Companion says, "Manto goes after a bit of everything – the result is a solid work with many affecting passages, but without the focus that might have made it a greater film. Nandita Das proves, again, that her most distinctive quality is understatedness. The production design (Rita Ghosh) and semi-sepia cinematography (Kartik Vijay) don’t oversell the period detail with posters and cutesy knick-knacks. Brief flashes of an event, instead, clue us in. An Achhut Kanya song is hummed. Jaddanbai (a fantastic Ila Arun) sings, with a coltish Nargis (who isn’t introduced as so-and-so) standing nearby. Shyam and Suraiya rehearse ‘Tu mera chand main teri chandni’, their soon-to-be-chartbuster from Dillagi. Fireworks go off when India gets independence. Thousands of Muslim move to Pakistan (in a single scene). Gandhi is assassinated. And through it all, Manto keeps writing."

Manto's release date in India is not yet confirmed. Seeing the early reactions, we are waiting to have more updates on the release date.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 13, 2018 10:50 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).