Nandita Das (R) speaking to the movie lede Nawazuddin Siddiqui during the shooting of the movie. Photo: Manto 

 

Bollywood actress and filmmaker Nandita Das said that her upcoming directorial Manto, based on the life of South Asian writer Saadat Hasan Manto, will hit the theatres by mid-next year.

The shooting of the movie has been completed, said the director during the opening ceremony of the Jio MAMI 19th Mumbai Film Festival, Indian media reported.

Regarding the movie, she said ?It's been an incredible journey. A lot of credible people have been a part of it. I think I am fortunate enough to work with a great cast and crew.?

She added, ?Hopefully, by mid next year, it should be in theatres."

On working with actors Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Rasika Dugal, she said: "Both of them are wonderful. Honestly, both are very accomplished actors and wonderful human beings. When you spend so much time with actors, you also want to work with good people.

I feel fortunate that they have fully dedicated themselves and they are real troopers, she added.

"If you ask as a director how happy you are after shooting the film, then it's a tricky one. But I just know that it can't get any worse. It can only get better when you are in post-production," she said.

She also shared that editing is her favourite part of the filmmaking journey.

"All the mistakes you have done while shooting, now you can sort of try to make it better.?

The first look of the movie Manto was finally unveiled at 70th Cannes Film Festival.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui plays the role of protagonist while Rasika Duggal plays the role of Manto's wife named Safiya. 

Earlier in the year, some pictures from the movie set had surfaced.