Shyam Benegal’s classic Manthan at Cannes: Everything you need to know about India’s first crowd-funded film

Shyam Benegal's 48-year-old film Manthan is all set to be screened at the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival 2024 in the Cannes Classic section.

Directed by Shyam Benegal, Manthan (The Churning) is a 1976 Hindi film. It is based on the pioneering milk cooperative movement of Verghese Kurien in Gujarat which eventually became Amul.

The film features Girish Karnad, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Smita Patil, Naseeruddin Shah, Mohan Agashe, Anant Nag, and Amrish Puri among others.

Smita Patil played the role of a local villager, Bindu, whose husband has supposedly left her with their young child.

Naseeruddin Shah played the local Harijan community's leader, Bhola, who is fighting against the caste politics and the divide between higher castes and Harijans in the village.

The chief occupation of the villagers are cattle-rearing and producing milk which they sell to a local dairy owner, Mishra (Amrish Puri) and Mishra pays ridiculously low amounts for their milk.

Shyam made his casts, including Naseeruddin Shah, Smita Patil, Amrish Puri, wear the same clothes for 40-45 days in blistering heat.

The restored version of Manthan is very relevant in today's time. In addition to Manthan, two more films, Maya Miriga (1984) and Ghatashraddha (1977), were restored.

Manthan is the only movie with the largest count of individual investors where 500,000 farmers donated Rs. 2 each and entirely crowdfunded the film.

Smita Patil's son Prateik Patil Babbar reflects immense pride on this prestigious occasion. He acknowledged her work, legacy and influence on his acting journey.