The film is a biographical account of writer Saadat Hasan Manto's life and is set in 1940s India.
The film follows the most tumultuous four years in the life of Manto and that of the two countries he inhabits - India and Pakistan. In Bombay's seedy-shiny film world, Manto and his stories are widely read and accepted. But as sectarian violence engulfs the nation, Manto makes the difficult choice of leaving his beloved Bombay. In Lahore, he finds himself bereft of friends and unable to find takers for his writings. His increasing alcoholism leads him into a downward spiral. Through all of this, he continues to write prolifically, without dilution. This is the tale of two emerging nations, two faltering cities, and one man who tries to make sense of it all.
Bombay 1946: In the middle of the freedom struggle against the British Empire and the forewarning of India being partitioned, Saadat Hasan Manto (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), a well-established short story writer works in the glittering world of the Bombay film industry as a scriptwriter. He doesn't like the commercialization of his work from the likes of Film Producers (Rishi Kapoor), who treat Bollywood like a brothel. Producer changes Manto's lines in the script to make them more titillating and double-meaning and makes it sound cheap and vulgar.
Manto puts up with this as he needs the money. But the Producer doesn't pay Manto his full price. Manto demanded Rs 2800 for the script, but the Producer pays him Rs 1200 in cash, or Rs 1800 by check a week later, as he takes advantage of Manto's need.
He writes about prostitutes and to get realism in his stories, he visits the red-light area of Bombay where he meets a Pimp (Paresh Rawal) and Prostitute (Tillotama Shome) to get an insight into their personal and professional life. The prostitute begs the pimp to let her sleep as he has kept her awake with clients for many nights in a row. For the pimp, it is a matter of survival, and he insists that the prostitute attends to the client. In the ensuing scuffle, the prostitute pushes the pimp, who ends up dead after hitting his head on the corner of her bed. After the fight, the prostitute goes to sleep.
Manto had cases pending against him in Lahore due to the scandalous nature of his writing but was acquitted.
Although Manto has a tenuous relationship with the Progressive Writers' Association, many of its members are his close friends, including the feminist writer, Ismat Chughtai (Rajshri Deshpande). They are both acquitted from the charge of obscenity for their respective works. Shahid (Atul Kumar) is also Manto's close friend who says that Manto is needlessly provocative and need not get serious at every criticism of his work. Shahid feels that in times of massive social and political upheaval, Manto's focus on prostitutes is construed as frivolous and anti-establishment.
Manto has an offer of a Rs 1000/month job in Lahore but prefers to stay in Bombay. Due to the impending partition of the country, there is a serious debate whether Muslims should stay in India or leave for the new country to be created, Pakistan.Manto has many admirers and friends in the film industry. The closest is Shyam Chadda (Tahir Raj Bhasin), a charming budding actor and Ashok Kumar (Bhanu Uday), a famous actor, director and producer. But, his biggest supporter and the unwavering pillar of strength is his wife, Safia (Rasika Dugal). Safia and Manto used to have a son together, whom they lost and now have a daughter.As the date of independence comes closer for both nations, riots increase on both sides on religious lines.
Soon after, India gains independence on 15 August 1947 and the new nation of Pakistan is born. Safia leaves for Lahore to attend her sister's wedding. Despite flaring Hindu-Muslim tensions, Manto decides to stay back in his beloved city of Bombay. One day, Shyam, on hearing that his family was forced to flee Pakistan because of a Muslim mob attack, tells Manto in anger: "I could have even killed you if there was a religious riot in Bombay".Shocked and anguished, a non-practicing Muslim, Manto suddenly becomes conscious of his religious identity and the vulnerabilities that come with it. He impulsively makes the unimaginable decision of moving to Pakistan. Shyam apologizes for his words spoken in a fit of anger, but Manto had made up his mind and leaves his beloved Bombay behind. He travels hi ship to Karachi and from there reaches Lahore.
Lahore, 1948: A melancholic city full of refugees, forsaken property, and burnt buildings becomes Manto's new home. He is left grappling with a growing sense of isolation and a deep sense of betrayal. As he struggles to come to terms with his new reality, he spirals into a state of perpetual drunkenness. In Jan 1948, he receives news that Gandhi has been shot. He pens the short story Thanda Gosht, highlighting the plight and sexual assault on women during the fog of partition. A local magazine refuses to print the story due to its gruesome nature.To earn a living Manto writes articles for a local newspaper at Rs 20 per article. He then finds a publisher to publish his short stories including Thanda Gosht.
Thanda Gosht was a story about the communal violence of 1947. Ishwar Singh fails to make love to his mistress Kalwant. She suspects him of infidelity and in a fit of jealousy stabs him with his own dagger. While dying, Ishwar Singh admits his crime getting involved in riots which broke out in his village, killing a Muslim family with the same dagger and abducting a Muslim girl after breaking in their house and attempting to sexually assault her, who was actually dead. Hence the title Thanda Gosht.
Soon after the book is published, a case is registered against Manto and his house is raided by the police.
Though Safia continues to stand by him, their marriage begins to feel the strain. Relentless and long-drawn court trials alleging obscenity in his story Thanda Gosht (Literal meaning: Cold Meat) take a severe toll on his health and finances. His statement in defense of literature and free speech is met with a conviction and a Rs 300 fine which he cannot afford as all publishers now avoid him. Despite this, he continues to pen some of his sharpest and most courageous works.
His compulsions to write and drink are in direct conflict with his desire to see his family - wife and two daughters, happy and secure. His failing health makes him hallucinate. Once Shyam visits Lahore and is sad to see Manto in such a desperate state. He offers money which Monto refuses. Shyam goes back to Bombay and continues to write to Manto with offers of help, which never reach him.Unable to see his family suffer any longer, he finally admits himself into the alcohol rehabilitation center in Lahore Mental Hospital.
The main narrative is seamlessly interspersed with five of his poignant stories. The last one being his most famous story - Toba Tek Singh. Manto begins the story with, "two or three years after Partition, it occurred to the governments of India and Pakistan to exchange their lunatics like they had exchanged their criminals. The Muslim lunatics in India were to be sent to Pakistan and the Hindu and Sikh lunatics in Pakistani asylums were to be handed over to India."The Sikh protagonist, who has vowed to remain standing until he finds his village, lies in death in no-man's land, between the two nations. Manto's predicament is not too different, who died at the age of 42.
