Shyam Benegal’s ‘Manthan’ to Shine at 77th Cannes Film Festival

The 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival will mark a significant milestone for Indian cinema as Shyam Benegal’s classic film ‘Manthan’ is set to be screened during a prestigious gala on Friday at Salle Bunuel. ‘Manthan,’ starring the late actress Smita Patil, is the only Indian film selected under the Cannes Classic section this year.

The film, based on the pioneering milk cooperative movement led by Dr. Verghese Kurien—known as the father of the White Revolution in India—was produced by five lakh dairy farmers of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which markets its products under the Amul brand. This Gujarat-set movie was the first Indian film entirely crowdfunded by 500,000 farmers, each contributing Rs 2.

‘Manthan’ features a stellar cast including Naseeruddin Shah, Girish Karnad, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Mohan Agashe, Anant Nag, and Amrish Puri. The film won two National Film Awards in 1977 for Best Feature Film in Hindi and Best Screenplay for Vijay Tendulkar. It was also India’s official entry to the 1976 Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

The restored version of ‘Manthan’ will premiere at Cannes, attended by Naseeruddin Shah, the family of the late Smita Patil, the film’s producers, and Film Heritage Foundation’s Shivendra Singh Dungarpur.

Expressing his delight about the screening, Shyam Benegal said, “I was absolutely delighted when Shivendra told me that Film Heritage Foundation was going to restore ‘Manthan’ in collaboration with the Gujarat Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. ‘Manthan’ is a film that is very close to my heart as it was funded by 500,000 farmers and was instrumental in the growth of an extraordinary cooperative movement that was aimed at breaking the shackles of economic inequality and caste discrimination whilst empowering the farmers.”

He added, “It will remind the world of the power of cinema as a vehicle of change and also the legacy of the great Verghese Kurien, the Father of the White Revolution. Govind Nihalani and I have been following the progress of the restoration closely and I am amazed by the meticulous approach to the restoration. It is wonderful to see the film come back to life almost like we made it yesterday. Film Heritage Foundation has been doing remarkable work in film restoration. Not only are they beautifully restoring films from every region of India, but bringing them back to the public at festivals and screenings around the world in a way that showcases our unique film heritage to contemporary global audiences.”

The Cannes Film Festival 2024 opened on May 14 and will continue until May 25.