Shyam Benegal's 1976 Film Manthan To Be Screened At Cannes 2024: All You Need To Know

The 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival is underway. This year, India will achieve a significant milestone as Shyam Benegal's classic Manthan will be screened today, May 17, at Salle Bunel. The 1976 film becomes the first Indian movie to release in the Cannes Classics section. With just a few hours left for the historical screening, here's all you need to know about the movie.

What is the plot of Manthan?

Starring Smita Patil and Naseeruddin Shah, the movie is inspired by the pioneering milk cooperative movement of Verghese Kurien. It is set amidst the backdrop of the White Revolution of India. The movie not only demonstrated great measurable success but also showed the power of collective might as it was entirely crowdfunded. The movie also starred Girish Karnad, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Mohan Agashe, Amrish Puri, and Anant Nag in pivotal roles.

DYK Manthan is the first crowdfunded Indian film?

Yes, the Gujarat-set movie was produced by five lakh dairy farmers of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which markets its products under the Amul brand. It was crowdfunded by 500,000 farmers who donated ₹2 each.

Manthan won two National Awards in 1977 in categories - Best Feature Film in Hindi and Best Screenplay for Vijay Tendulkar. It was also  India's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1976. The title song Mero Gaam Katha Parey later became the soundtrack for the television commercial for Amul.

Who will be attending Manthan's screening at the Cannes Film Festival?

The premiere will be attended by Naseeruddin Shah, Prateik Babbar (son of Smita Patil), the producers of the movie, and Film Heritage Foundation's Shivendra Singh Dungarpur. Cannes Film Festival 2024 opened on May 14 and will conclude on May 25.

Where can you watch Manthan online?

The film is currently available for streaming on ZEE5 for free.