'Manto fought the odds, swam against the tide': Shekhar Suman

They faced a society that is trying every trick in the book to eclipse them. Most productions revolve around a part of Manto's life and writings, or adapt his writings. How is Ek Haan, directed by Randhir Ranjan Roy, different? The play is where fact meets fiction. It is the story about a journalist (played by Suchitra Krishnamoorti) who has come from post-Independence — and post-Partition India — to meet Manto, who has settled in Pakistan. She is trying to unravel what Manto is all about. The play unwinds in a very peculiar way and leads to a unexpected climax. Manto's life was also mired in charges of obscenity, censorship and court cases. Do you depict it in the play? Manto had cases against him in India and Pakistan to an extent that there were efforts to ban him forever and people thought he was peddling soft porn. These things are happening even today and has happened for many years. If you are not toeing the state's line, you are considered anti-national and unpatriotic. Manto fought for gender equality and women in a patriarchal society. He is an example of what happens when a person speaks his mind and talks of the ills of society. Many writers would be toadying up to powers that be, but not Manto. He fought the odds and swam against the tide. How is it for a big-screen actor to be on the stage? For me, the stage was always home. I am quintessentially a theatre actor. I was born in Bihar but, at 12 or 13, I moved to Delhi and studied at Ramjas College, where I graduated in history. In theatre, I passed out from Shri Ram Centre for Performing Arts, Delhi, which was led by Panna Bharat Ram. Dr Rajinder Nath was the director. We had Bansi Kaul, Badal Sircar and Ram Gopal Bajaj, among others, who came to teach us. I used to hear stories about Alkazi. I remember doing the play Ballabhpur ki Roopkatha in the basement of Shri Ram Centre and there was a rumour that Ben Kingsley and Richard Attenborough had come to watch us. We all ended up doing such massive overacting in order to impress them and secure a role in Hollywood, that there was mayhem and chaos in the play. In the process of developing the character, how much inspiration did you draw from real-life people and their behaviours? I have seen many people like Manto, who are good at heart but stubborn and pig-headed. My father, for instance, was a professor of surgery and a great thoracic surgeon. Because of the lack of facilities for heart surgeons in Bihar at that time, he decided to serve his state. He stayed back in Bihar and became the Director-General of Health Services. He was a fakir. I remember that my Ma and Babuji would squabble because he would treat patients for free. My mother would say, 'How would the house run? There are four kids and you have eight or nine brothers and sisters. How will you marry them off?' He would answer, 'He is a poor man. He can't afford my fees. Let him be'. And, he would keep doing what he thought was right. Was your show, Movers and Shakers, an example of your own idealism? I thought it was a part of my social responsibility. For viewers, it was a show of entertainment but, for me, it was a crusade. I talked about the Prime Minister, the police, the underworld at a time when nobody knew of the genre. There was a terrorist who was caught in Sakinaka and, during interrogation, he said, 'I have come to kill two people, Shekhar Suman and Mani Ratnam'. I used to get threatening calls from the underworld and politicians used other tactics to tell me not to do it. Ek Haan will be staged at Nehru Memorial Hall, Pune, on Sept 14, 8 pm DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: The Indian Expresshttps://vimeo.com/user101288175

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