In an industry that has become largely money-oriented, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and the team of Manto showed that artistes are driven by their love for movies. Eager to bring director Nandita Das' vision of Urdu author Saadat Hasan Manto to the big screen, most actors associated with the biopic decided to forgo their remuneration.

Das tells mid-day that the film's leading man was so taken by the story that a discussion about the remuneration did not arise. "Nawaz offered to do the film for Re 1. To not charge even a nominal fee is gracious of him," says the director, who was surprised to find similar support from Rishi Kapoor, Paresh Rawal, Ranvir Shorey, Divya Dutta and Javed Akhtar, among others.