Manthan at Cannes: How 500,000 farmers brought this Indian film to life? | Bollywood News

Manthan stars Girish Karnad, Smita Patil, Naseeruddin Shah and Amrish Puri in lead roles. The film was directed by Shyam Benegal and released in 1976. It also became India’s first crowdfunded film and won a National Award.

Manthan at Cannes: How 500,000 farmers brought this Indian film to life? (Credits: X)

New Delhi: Shyam Benegal’s 1976 film Manthan was screened at the 77th Cannes Film Festival this year. Touted as India’s first crowdfunded film, Manthan received a standing ovation at the prestigious festival. The film starred none other than the late actor Girish Karnad, late actress Smita Patil, Naseeruddin Shah, Amrish Puri, Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Mohan Agashe in lead roles.

Manthan at Cannes

Several photos of Naseeruddin Shah and his wife-actor Ratna Pathak Shah, along with Smita Patil’s actor-son Prateik Babbar, and Verghese Kurien’s daughter, Nirmala Kurien have surfaced on the internet. They can be seen attending the red carpet premiere of Manthan, almost 50 years after its initial release.

Shyam Benegal’s Manthan

However, many do not know that the 134-minute-long film was inspired by India’s Dairy cooperative movement that transformed India from a milk-deficit nation to the leading milk producer in the world. Shyam Benegal drew inspiration from the Milkman of India, Verghese Kurien who is renowned for revolutionising milk production nationwide.

How was Manthan brought back to life?

Reportedly, all that remained of Manthan was a deteriorated negative and two faded prints. The negative was severely damaged by fungus, resulting in vertical green lines in many parts. The sound negative was entirely ruined, compelling the restorers to use the audio from the single surviving print.

However, Shyam along with his long-time cinematographer Govind Nihalani looked over the restoration of the film at a Chennai lab. This was done under the supervision of a renowned Bologna-based film restoration lab, a report by BBC read.

How was Manthan made?

In an interview with BBC, Shyam recalled that encouraged by Kurien, he had created several documentaries on Operation Flood and rural marketing initiatives. But when the filmmaker suggested a feature film, Kurien hesitated, citing a lack of funds due to his refusal to accept money from farmers.

Under the cooperative model, small farmers sold milk at collection centres in Gujarat, where it was processed into butter and other products. Kurien proposed deducting two rupees from each farmer at these centres to finance the film. The farmers agreed enthusiastically because the film would tell their story, Shyam explained.

Manthan was produced by 500,000 dairy farmers, each contributing Rs 2 towards its production.