Nandita Das: If art has to flourish it needs freedom

Nandita Das feels that if the art has to flourish it needs freedom. She also stated that it is very dangerous that some self-proclaimed custodians of culture were talking about what is right and what is not. She even questioned that how can few people decide what the nation should watch. She even stated that one should fight for the freedom.


Nandita Das said, "Larger censorship issues are coming up now. If art has to flourish, it needs freedom. The whole concept of a censor board and to censor films in itself is faulty. How can a handful of people decide what all of us as a nation want to see? They are actually undermining the audience. They are belittling you (audience) by saying that we know what you should watch and should not watch. If we are not going to fight for our freedom, who will?"


Talking about her next project ‘Manto’ she said, "Manto defined himself as a human being beyond the identities of nationalism and religion. He was a big champion of free speech and fought many battles. He was tried for obscenity six times. He wrote stories that were raw and truthful. He had a deep conviction and that gave him a lot of courage.


Nawazuddin Siddiqui will play the lead in the film, talking about him Nandita said, "He is so relevant today and his work is the best way to respond to contemporary times. That is why I felt ‘Manto’ was the right person to talk about in my film.”


When asked about his favourite historical character, Nawazuddin said he wants to play the iconic role of Dilip Kumar in ‘Mughal-e-Azam’, "I would definitely love to do it. My personality is often underestimated. People think I am good at doing roles of a gangster only, but I can do 'royal-type' roles too. I find them interesting.”


Talking about his role in ‘Manto’, Nawazuddin said, "The biggest difficulty in playing Manto was being a truthful person. I speak a lot of lies, was polluted and had to purify myself before playing the titular role".


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