On stage with Manto

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Hindustan had become free. Pakistan had become independent soon after its inception but man was still slave in both these countries — slave to prejudice … slave to religious fanaticism … slave to barbarity and inhumanity.
Saadat Hasan Manto

Manto was always proud of his work that captured the human emotion during partition in 1947. And so are many who work on his rich legacy today. “Manto’s short stories — depicting killings, rape, poverty, conspiracy, exodus, frustration and other such sentiments — appeal to people differently. Khol Do, based on a 17-year-old girl subjected to continuous rape, may hit a feminist strongly, while Nangi Awazain presenting abject poverty is what a humanitarian could relate to. The most amazing part of Manto’s work is that it is applicable even today, many years after 1947,” says Armeen Kaur, a college student playing a prostitute in Manto’s short story, Kaali Shalwar.
Nangi Awazain, Ishq Par Zor Nahin, Kaali Shalwar, Toba Tek Singh, Tetwal ka Kutta, Thanda Gosht, Gurmukh Singh Ki Wasiyat and Khol Do were the eight plays through which students like Armeen paid homage to Manto on the year of his birth centenary. “One of the greatest Urdu short story writers of the contemporary world, we at Ankur thought he was the best theme for our annual production. The festival showcased a collage of stories running up to 150 minutes. On the one hand where we were sure of Manto’s in-your-face stories, on the other we were under the burden of sewing them perfectly together,” recalls Ayushaansh Gupta, president, Ankur, the theatre society of SGTB Khalsa College, DU, and a third year student.
Four days, eight short stories, 43 team members, 82 roles on stage and 140 on and off the stage, were the ingredients of MantoRang that captured the spirit of the acclaimed writer. “Being radical, Manto has been frank in his portrayal of the human psyche and behaviour in those troubled times. And so, while we had many stories to choose from, we selected those that captured a variety of emotions. The second most difficult job was to turn them into acts, as Manto wrote only stories,” says Kuljeet Singh, production director and assistant professor, Department of Eng-lish, SGTB Khalsa College.
For most Ankur members coming from literature courses, Manto has been a curriculum subject. Working hard for the last 50 days, team members have been practising from 8 am to 8 pm for the past few days. Besides the rich content, they ensured that stories were portrayed to bring a range of human emotion to the fore.
“There were scenes about sex, rape and other cruel acts that were symbolic, but the only way to stay true to Manto was not to dilute the disposition,” concludes Karanjot Singh, a team member and student.