Guests of honour

Team Manto turned host for Nuzhat Arshad and Nusrat Jalal, two of Manto’s daughters who flew down to Mumbai from Lahore for the film’s release. On hosting the two ladies, Rasika Dugal, who plays Manto’s wife in the film says, “It is so nice to finally get to meet the family. Nandita’s efforts have finally brought them here.” On what her esteemed guests did upon landing in the city, Rasika adds, “Nandita planned a walk for them around the town area to go to the places that their parents used to visit often. Nusrat Apa and her spouse Shahid Saab wanted to visit Prithvi theatre, so I took them there. Later in the evening, Nandita, Nawaz and I had dinner with the family where Saeed Saab (a friend of the Manto family and of Nandita) read out a beautiful fiction piece he had written about Nandita meeting Manto. Many stories were exchanged and there were many laughs. It felt like we have known each other for a while even though it was the first time we had met.”

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