Ek Mulaqat Manto Se”, enacted by Ashwath Bhatt as a solo act play, at Stein auditorium, India Habitat Centre, recently offered us an opportunity to watch Saadat Hasan Manto’s turbulent times, his traumatic life and images of his hard-hitting fictional themes that evoked a sense of disquiet, shock and anguish. In fact, contemporary Indian stage directors have been greatly fascinated by Manto’s short stories like “Toba Tek Singh”, “Thanda Gosht”, “Khol Do” and “Kali Salvar”. As far as audiences are concerned, they have displayed an earnest desire to watch the stage version of his stories. No wonder we watch every now and again Manto’s stories on the stage. His fictional works have also provided creative impulse to some playwrights. The late highly promising playwright Shahid Anwar’s “Ghair Zaroori Log” with a long introduction by Habib Tanvir is based on Manto’s stories which was directed by Mustaq Kak, a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. It was staged in most of the Indian theatre festivals held in different cities. Eminent Punjabi playwright Atamjeet Singh was inspired by Manto’s “Toba Tek Singh” and wrote his own play “Rishtian Da Ki Rakhiye Na” which was staged at 8th Theatre Olympics to a jam-packed hall. Another Manto’s story was the focus of attention at the 8th Theatre Olympics. “Khol Do” was created and performed by eminent theatre actor-director Maya Krishna Rao.
Myriad situations
Ashwasth’s “Manto” and his characters are brought alive vividly on the stage, giving a new dimension to the contemporary relevance of the noted writer. The multiple situations, characters and heart-rending human situations are watched with keen interest. “Ek Mulaqat Manto Se” opens with Ashwath as Manto, smoking cigarette, pacing the floor and then introducing himself to the audience as Manto. Then he sits on the chair in his typical style and starts writing. A prolific writer, he announces that the pockets of his shirt are stuffed with stories and whenever he needs one, he brings it out in a jiffy. He tells us about his family and about his brothers who were in London whom he was able to meet late in life. His addiction to booze is also revealed.
Talking about his commitment to stark realism and his strong defence against the charge of depicting obscenity, he says, “I don't write faith! I don't write obscenity! I only write what is there in your society!” Ashwath has ingeniously created, with weird and grotesque background sounds, expressionistic imagery to show the Partition of India. Manto is tormented with horrifying sounds, signalling his painful decision to migrate to Pakistan. In this part, the performer gives us the observation of Manto of the newly formed Pakistan. What he observes is that even business establishments of little consequence have displayed their signboards beginning with Pakistan Zindabad. This observation is replete with wit and irony.
While designing “Ek Mulakat”, Ashwath has created the right ambience, using sparingly properties-a chair, a table and diwan with pillow, placing them on the downstage in full view of the audience. He acts in an unaffected manner, pacing the empty space, sitting on the chair and often lying down on the diwan, ensuring that action is taking place on the stage. From the opening sequence, he establishes a lively rapport with the audience. The performance ends with the dramatic narration of Manto’s short story “Khol Do” which reveals the brute and sexually depraved black face of the Partition.
It is a horrifying story of degenerate men who violate a young and innocent girl subjecting her to repeated gang rape. Her name is Sakina. Her father left India to migrate to Pakistan. By the time the father reaches the refugee-camp in Pakistan, he had lost his wife and his darling daughter is nowhere to be traced. He beseeches volunteers to trace her out. Pursuing himself in the frenzied mental and emotional conditions, he finds her on a stretcher in a hospital unconscious. The doctor says to the father, "Open the window". The almost dead body of Sakina stirs imperceptibly. “Her hands groped for the cord which kept her salwar tied around her waist. With painful slowness she unfastened it, pulled the garment down and opened her thighs…” These heartbreaking lines are delivered by the performer with tremendous inner force bringing to the fore what lies beneath the surface, shattering the conscience of the audience – this severe indictment of man’s savagery explains director’s fascination for Manto and his contemporary relevance.