Shabana Azmi is Nandita Das's Jaddanbai

After making her directorial debut with 'Firaaq' in 2008, Nandita Das is now gearing up to take her follow-up, 'Manto', toplined by Nawazuddin Siddiqui, off the ground in three months. Now, Mirror has learnt that Shabana Azmi has joined the cast of the biopic on Saadat Hasan Manto, one of the most well-known South Asian writers, who authored close to 300 short stories, 100 radio plays, numerous essays and film scripts before his untimely death at the age of 42.

The actress is gearing up to play the late singer-composer-actress-filmmaker 'Jaddanbai', who was yesteryear actress Nargis's mother and the maternal grandmother of Sanjay Dutt.
"I am delighted that Shabanaji has agreed to play the role. Jaddanbai was India's first female music director, and one of Indian cinema's pioneers. She will be seen singing in the film and since Shabanaji has a beautiful voice herself, it'd be easier for her to slip into the character," asserts Nandita.
She points out that Jaddanbai and Manto knew each other well. "He once wrote an essay on Nargis in which he spoke extensively about Jaddanbai," informs the actress-turned-filmmaker, who has previously worked with the 66-year-old actress in Deepa Mehta's 1996 Indian-Canadian drama, 'Fire'. "It feels like things are coming a full circle, where I will now get a chance to direct Shabanaji."
Born in 1892, Jaddanbai Hussain was brought up as a Muslim by her mother, Daleepbai, and her stepfather. The family later migrated to Punjab, moving on to Chilbila village in Allahabad. Jaddanbai would go on to move to the city and become a singer but struggled because of a lack of formal training. She approached Bhayya Saheb Ganpat of Kolkata who passed away while she was still undergoing training so she completed her lessons under Ustad Moinuddin Khan. She then began recording ghazals with the Columbia Gramophone Company, and acting when the Play Art Photo Tone Company of Lahore approached her for a role in their 1933 movie Raja Gopichand. She played the mother of the lead.
Later, she worked for a Karachi-based film company on 'Insaan ya Shaitan', going on to work in two more movies, 'Prem Pariksha' and 'Seva Sadan', before starting her own banner, Sangeet Films, which produced 'Talashe Haq' (1935) in which she acted and gave music, and introduced daughter Nargis as a child artiste. The next year, she acted in, directed, and composed for Madam Fashion.
"Jaddanbai, a feisty lady, was a producer, director and singer who carried considerable weight as a woman in those times. Nandita is a friend and a colleague, we have the same world view. She is totally consumed by Manto," Shabana told Mirror. Prodded on her prep, she added, "Nandita wants me to sing. It's a daunting and challenging task, but let's see."
Meanwhile, the hunt is on for an actor to play Manto's closest friend, Shyam. "Despite the struggle to find Shyam, I am overwhelmed by the number of actors who have reached out to me to be part of the project. I am also excited that Om Puri has agreed to play an important character in the film. It would be an honour to direct actors whose work I so admire," Nandita signs off.