Prateik Babbar made his debut at the Cannes Film Festival 2024. The actor walked the red carpet to attend the premiere of the restored version of Manthan starring his mother and late actress Smita Patil. Speaking about the honourable moment, the actor mentioned that he is filled with pride and his mother would have been too, had she been here.

Prateik Babbar represents mother Smita Patil at Cannes 2024 

Shyam Benegal's classic Manthan was screened on May 17, at Salle Bunel. The 1976 film becomes the first Indian movie to be released in the Cannes Classics section. 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. 

Talking about the film’s premiere and representing his mother, Babbar told IANS, “I am filled with immense pride as my mother's 1976 film 'Manthan' has been restored and will premiere in the Cannes Classics section at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. I have the honour of representing my late mother at this historic event, which also marks my debut at the esteemed Cannes Film Festival. This moment is deeply close for me as her son, having always regarded her as one of the greatest actresses in Indian cinema history.” 

‘If my mother were here today, she would be incredibly proud’, says Prateik Babbar on Manthan screening

Reminiscing his later mother, Prateik said, “If my mother were here today, she would be incredibly proud. She was always passionate about cinema which made a difference, and seeing Manthan celebrated on such a prestigious global platform would validate her belief in meaningful art.”

Manthan won two National Awards in 1977 in categories - Best Feature Film in Hindi and Best Screenplay for Vijay Tendulkar. It was crowdfunded by 500,000 farmers who donated ₹2 each. The premiere of the movies at Cannes was attended by Naseeruddin Shah, Prateik Babbar, the producers of the movie, and Film Heritage Foundation's Shivendra Singh Dungarpur.