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Restored version of Shyam Benegal’s National Award Winner Manthan to be showcased at Cannes Film Festival
KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)
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Summary
Manthan is the third picture that the foundation has restored in a row to be premiered at Cannes.
Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, the Founder of the Film Heritage Foundation (FHF), announced on Thursday that the restored version of legendary director Shyam Benegal’s 1976 film Manthan will be presented at the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival.
To restore the national award-winning movie that starred the late actress Smita Patil, FHF, a not-for-profit organisation teamed up with Gujarat Milk Marketing Federation Ltd.
Manthan is the sole Indian film selected for the Cannes Classics section this year. Naseeruddin Shah, the late Smita Patil’s family, the movie’s producers, and Shivendra Singh Dungarpur of the FHF will all be present for the film’s premiere.
Manthan will be played under Cannes Classics, a section dedicated to celebrations, restored prints and documentaries that was established 20 years ago, according to the Cannes Film Festival website.
Unbelievable Third year in a row at Cannes Film Festival …Film Heritage Foundation is proud to bring the Restoration of Shyam Benegal’s milestone film “Manthan”produced by 500,000 farmers who gave rupees 2 to produce this film…I wish Smita Patil was here to see this… pic.twitter.com/SKab5QQYd5
— Shivendra Singh Dungarpur (@shividungarpur) April 25, 2024
Manthan is the third picture the foundation has restored in a row to be premiered at Cannes.
In 2022, FHF presented a restored version of G Aravindan’s 1978 Malayalam film Thampu at Cannes Classics. The previous year, in the same section, the restored version of Aribam Syam Sharma’s Manipuri film Ishanou was also shown.
Director Benegal told The Times of India (TOI) that Manthan was a film he was particularly passionate about because it was funded by 500,000 farmers.
According to him, it played a significant role in the development of a great cooperative movement that intended to empower farmers and free them from the restrictions of caste and economic inequity.
He went on to explain that the film would remind the world of cinema’s potential as a tool for change, as well as the lasting impact of Verghese Kurien, the Father of the White Revolution.
In an interview with TOI, Naseeruddin Shah said that he began his acting career with Benegal’s films Nishant and Manthan.
He continued by expressing his gratitude to FHF for their caring restoration of this small film, which was produced with the help of the farmers. Shah said that the film’s premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in its second life—as it should—was made possible by the “persistence, hard work, and efforts” of FHF. He went on to say that he would be present to present it himself.
Govind Nihalani, the film’s cinematographer, told the daily, “Being involved in the restoration has been an emotional experience.” Additionally, he claimed that it transported him back to 1976, when the entire group spent 45 days filming in the Gujarati village of Sanganva, living as a single family.
Finally, Dungarpur stated that since Shyam Benegal was one of India’s most renowned directors and his early work was influential in the country’s Parallel Cinema movement, the restoration of Benegal’s film had been on FHF’s wish list for years.
Manthan, India’s first crowdfunded film, is about a village’s transformational organisational revolution. Approximately 500,000 farmers contributed ₹2 apiece towards the film’s production.
The film chronicles farmers’ path towards forming a cooperative dairy society, while also painting an accurate portrayal of the hardships they confront inside the exploitative milk industry.
Manthan, also referred to as The Churning, embodies the spirit of the Indian White Revolution and is based on the real narrative of the revolutionary milk cooperative movement headed by Verghese Kurien.
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