Nawazuddin Siddiqui embodies the character of Saadat Hasan Manto in Nandita's second directorial venture, which looks at the author's most turbulent and creative years, beginning from 1946. Asked why artistes keep revisiting the Partition, Nandita said, "Why we have not forgotten and probably why we should not forget Partition is because we haven't learnt anything from it."

The actor-director said she was more interested in looking at this turbulent history through Manto's eyes. "Today, it is the same sectarian violence and who suffered then and who's suffering now: common people. Cyril Radcliffe drew a line that travels perhaps through a village and everything gets broken," she told PTI.