Shyam Benegal’s Classic ‘Manthan’ Showcased at Cannes Film Festival

Proving to be a proud moment for Indian cinema, Shyam Benegal’s much-acclaimed film ‘Manthan’ will be screened on Friday at the 77th Cannes Film Festival highlighting India’s contribution to global cinema.

‘Manthan’, featuring the late Smita Patil, is the only Indian film for the Cannes Classics section this year. This movie is based on Dr. Verghese Kurien, the architect of India’s White Revolution. Produced by the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), known for its Amul brand, ‘Manthan’ is a unique example of community-funded filmmaking. For its production, 500,000 dairy farmers contributed Rs 2 each.

Actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Girish Karnad, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Mohan Agashe, Anant Nag, and Amrish Puri also acte din this movie.

It won two National Film Awards in 1977 for Best Feature Film in Hindi and Best Screenplay for Vijay Tendulkar. ‘Manthan’ was India’s official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 1976 Academy Awards.

The restored version of ‘Manthan’ will be screened at Cannes, in the presence of Naseeruddin Shah, Smita Patil’s family, the producers, and Shivendra Singh Dungarpur of the Film Heritage Foundation.