Rasika will be playing Manto’s wife Safia in the biopic of Manto

 Actress Rasika Dugal is all geared up for her next film based on the life of controversial and celebrated poet and writer Saadat Hasan Manto, played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Rasika is playing his wife Safia Manto.

 Nandita Das as a director is trying to get accurate references from all sources and media to give the film the right look and feel of the era. Rasika too on other hand is doing her bit to get into the character of Safia Manto. It was a daunting task for Rasika to research on Safia Manto as not much is written about her. Rasika wanted to know more about Safia and she requested Nandita to make her get in touch with Manto’s daughters in Lahore, Pakistan. She thought that it would be an apt choice if she could speak with Manto’s daughters Nighat, Nuzhat and Nusrat to learn more about Safia. They could give Rasika insights about their mother’s personality that would help her build a character.

 Rasika says, “I spoke to Nuzhat Aapa before we started filming. She had seen the photos of my first look which came out a few days back and I was delighted that she also thought that I resembled her mother. It meant a lot to me. It was such a warm conversation. Since I have been reading so much about her family in the last few months. I felt like I had known her for a while even though it was the first time we were speaking. Besides speaking about Safia and Manto we also bonded over our love for Punjabi.”