Bollywood debutante explores Manto's work for bold film

A still from the film

Marathi filmmaker Samit Kakkad is set to make his Bollywood directorial debut with a film titled AscharyaF#'kIt, inspired by the writings of the late revered writer Saadat Hasan Manto. The film revolves around an unlikely love story where desire and greed intertwines the lives of a Bollywood star, his chauffeur, a prostitute and her pimp, read a statement."I wanted to bring Manto's complex characters to life on 70 mm but also wanted to tell a story that will keep contemporary audiences engaged. At the heart of it, 'AscharyaF#'kIt' is an unconventional love story and it is the idea of love that ultimately binds everything in the film," Kakkad said.

He has attempted to add a contemporary touch to Manto's characters. "Manto wrote about characters on the fringes of society and captured their world and their voice. The hope was to retain the spirit of Manto while updating it for the audience of today. AscharyaFuckIt is in essence about worlds colliding. The film is about the Mumbai of today. It is not a heightened version that is depicted in other films, but a more 'truer' version of the city," added Kakkad, who has earlier directed Marathi films Aayna Ka Bayna and Half Ticket.

His maiden Bollywood project's cast includes Priyanka Bose, Santosh Juvekar, Ankit Raaj and Vaibhav Raaj Gupta among others. Produced by Vikram Mehra and Siddharth Anand Kumar of Yoodlee Films, its story and screenplay is by Amar Tipnis.

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