ISLAMABAD, May 31: The second day of celebrating Manto’s centenary took the standard up a notch as the likes of Qavi Khan and Tahira Imam put up a profile of Manto touching both the personal and professional aspects of his life – capturing the continuous fight that his short life was.

The play interspersed with moments of Manto’s personal life, with Qavi Khan playing the legendary writer himself, and scenes from Manto’s stories. This juxtaposition gave a concrete form to the context in which Manto was functioning – the environment he was a part of as he jotted down the realities that he saw around him.

Giving a running commentary, two men criticise Manto on the vulgarity he writes and how he reveals a woman to the reader in all her reality – and then swoon with the same vulgarity of the Manto’s characters when a girl saunters past them.

And through this, the writer of the play Arshad Chehal, captured the hypocrisy that Manto saw around him and refused to cover up or hide in dim implications and soft stances.

“If you can’t bear my stories, then you can’t bear my time!” declares Manto (Qavi Khan) to his wife (played by Tahira Imam).

Manto’s wife reminds him of the court cases he has to face, the taunts she has to bear from people, his daughters who rely on him, but Manto keeps defending his stance until the police walk in to arrest him because the court has convicted him.

But even so, when he asks his wife who she will chose between Manto and Shahabuddin, she chooses him, and Manto is comfortable in the knowledge that “every woman will choose her Manto.”

The play also depicted one of Manto’s most effective short stories titled ‘khol do.’ With the likes of Batin Farooqi performing and Tahira Imam narrating, the performance was heart wrenching and a treat to watch.

Directed by William Pervez, the play will be performed again tomorrow for those who want to see a live version of Manto up-close.