Ahead of Saadat Hasan Manto’s death anniversary (January 18), an expert tells us how you can live a day in the literary giant’s life, the way he liked it
Adelphi Chambers on Mirza Ghalib Road. PICS COURTESY/ZUBAIR AZMI
Main chalta phirta Bombay hoon” [I’m a walking Bombay, on the move] — Saadat Hasan Manto’s famously quoted line sowed a few questions in our mind: Where exactly did one of the greatest writers of his time walk, have they changed nearly eight decades after he left his ‘second home’ for Lahore, and do they still reflect glimpses of his legacy? Zubair Azmi, director of Urdu Markaz and founder of the Bhendi Bazaar Research Academy, gives us a handy guide to Manto’s Bombay.
Zubair Azmi
1 Arab Galli
In 1936, a young Manto in his early 20s made his way to Bombay and settled for a compact room in the chawls of Arab Galli.
Saadat Hasan Manto. PIC COURTESY/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Here, he saw the intimidating, feared gangster Mammad Bhai, who is later comically revealed to be a bubbly benevolent man in Manto’s eponymous story, Mammad Bhai. Manto writes about paying nine rupees and eight annas per month for the residence. Renting a home in the evolving neighbourhood will set you back to the tune of Rs 40,000 a month in 2026.
2 Adelphi Chambers
The writer’s more recognised abode on Mirza Ghalib Road (formerly Clare Road) in Byculla was a more modern, cosmopolitan locality. It is also where Bollywood greats like Ashok Kumar and Nargis visited the writer. It is said that K Asif, director of the iconic Mughal-e-Azam, also came visiting once.
3 Nagpada Garden
On breezy evenings, Manto would often walk down to the Nagpada Garden to wind down, and as always, observe the people around him. The garden is now the Padmakar Tukaram Mane Garden, known for its wall mural sculpture of poet Mirza Ghalib on its façade.
4 Imperial Film Company
The poster of Kisan Kanya (1937) produced by Ardeshir Irani
For a brief period, Manto worked with filmmaker Ardeshir Irani who founded the Imperial Film Company (now Jyoti Studio) near Grant Road railway station. The first film scripted by Manto, Kisan Kanya, was shot in the same studio. Cinephiles will know Irani and the studio for producing India’s first sound film, Alam Ara (1931).
5 Nagpada Junction
Nagpada Junction with Sarvi in view
Right outside Nagpada Police Station, Manto once observed a pimp, Siraj, leaning on an electricity pole in search of his next client.
Kebabs at Sarvi. FILE PIC
In his extensive writings on the complex lives of prostitutes and pimps, the writer makes references to Siraj. Not far away, Manto’s go-to for his evening chai, Sarvi, remembers him with the ‘Manto Table’ to this day.
6 Minerva Movietone
Zubair Azmi suggests you make a detour to the lanes of Sewri, where Manto worked with Sohrab Modi’s Minerva Movietone studio. Azmi’s grandfather-in-law Sadat Ali, who was the chief production manager would recall how the writer often accompanied him home, and excitedly requested, “Mia, kuch khilaiye.” The site of Minerva Movietone is now barren land.
Meet the bhais
Watch Mammad Bhai’s story unfold onstage at actor Amit Tiwari Anand’s eponymous solo play. The FTII alumnus will don multiple hats to recreate the residents of Arab Galli on the erstwhile South Bombay stage.
ON January 18; 5.30 pm
AT National Gallery of Modern Art, Fort.
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