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.
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 verti.