Nandita recalls directing Javed Akhtar in her directorial film
Nandita Das recalled giving veteran screenwriter Javed Akhtar his first significant acting break in her directorial film Manto, where she playfully credited herself with “Introducing Javed Akhtar”. Despite his initial desire to rewrite the script, she noted his comfort on camera, calling him a “natural”.
Nandita recalled that while working together, she had to remind Akhtar, “Javed sir, you are the actor in this, you are not the writer due to his instinct to edit the script. Javed Akhtar made an appearance as an actor in Manto.
Notably Nandita Das’s Manto remains one of the finest pieces of biopics released in contemporary times. Its triumph lies in how it subverts the gaze of a typical biopic by doing two major things: first, while most biopics try to find the human in the artist, Manto tries to locate the human in his art; and second, above all, it is not a hagiographical depiction of the celebrated author’s life, as it also attempts to explore his paradoxes, his cracks. Another strength of the film was its fantastically ensemble cast, featuring actors like Paresh Rawal, Rishi Kapoor, Neeraj Kabi, Tilotoma Shome, Ranvir Shorey, and Divya Dutta, each delivering memorable performances.
Among them was also celebrated screenwriter and lyricist Javed Akhtar, who made his first-ever acting debut with the film. He appears only for a few minutes, but again in a role that everyone who has watched the film remembers vividly. Nandita has known him for many years, so was obviously very familiar with him.
She then added, “But like with any good actor, it was collaborative. So of course, he added a few things, and she stuck to some other things, and then gave in on something. It’s all for the betterment, it’s not about ego, who wrote what. And finally, it was coming together and we created something together. The fact that he was quite a sport, and for fun she wrote in the credits, ‘Introducing Javed Akhtar,’ just for the fun. And she was like, see, in acting, she introduced him
She also added that the veteran screenwriter had no nerves before facing the camera: “He was a natural, because he has faced the camera for so long, he has done so many interviews, so he was very comfortable. And then changed his parting, they did a full look of his, so it was very fun.
News Edit KV Raman
