As Nandita Das’ directorial Manto opens to raving reviews in India after releasing on Friday, it seems the film’s future may just be bleak in Pakistan.
Essaying the life of controversial author Sadat Hasan Manto, the film which looks at the pre-Partition days of the writer was reportedly favoured to release in Pakistan. However, after the recent conditions between the two nations seeing a turn for the worse, distributors have backed out from bringing the already-contended film to the country.
Also read: Screenings ‘blocked’ as Manto opens to great reviews in India
Talking about this, Nadeem Mandivwala of Atrium Cinemas did confirm that no distributors are bringing the film to Pakistan – or at least, haven’t confirmed that they are.
“Up till now, no distributor has confirmed the release of the film,” the cinema owner told Something Haute.
Hugely disappointed… 6 years of work & many people's collective intent & commitment was to find its culmination this morning. Am assured by @Viacom18Movies it will be fixed at noon today. Pls let us know if it hasn’t been. Spreading #Mantoiyat will not stop! https://t.co/kuwWcn5Xa8
— Nandita Das (@nanditadas) September 21, 2018
The Nawazuddin Siddiqui starrer isn’t really getting to see the light at the end of the tunnel in India either, where the film’s screen allocation was abruptly made half of its size without any explanation.
“Hugely disappointed… six years of work and many people’s collective intent and commitment was to find its culmination this morning,” Nandita Das, the film’s director wrote on Twitter. “Am assured by Viacom18Movies it will be fixed at noon today. Please let us know if it has not been. Spreading #Mantoiyat will not stop.”
Will the film get a chance to release in Pakistan? Time will tell…
