Restored version of Shyam Benegal’s ‘Manthan’ to premiere at Cannes 2024

Cannes Film Festival 2024 will feature the restored version of veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal’s 1976 film ‘Manthan’. Starring Smita Patil, the film draws inspiration from the pioneering milk cooperative movement led by Verghese Kurien, renowned for ‘Operation Flood,’ which transformed India into the world’s largest milk producer and gave rise to the billion-dollar brand Amul.

‘Manthan’ will be showcased in the Cannes Classics section, which commemorates iconic films through restored prints and documentaries.

Sharing the news on his Twitter handle, Amitabh Bachchan wrote, “So proud that Film Heritage Foundation will be at the Cannes Film Festival for the third year in a row with another world premiere of a remarkable restoration – Shyam Benegal’s film “Manthan” that had compelling performances from an exceptional cast including Smita Patil. Just amazing the work that Film Heritage Foundation does to preserve, restore and showcase the best of India’s film heritage to the world.”

As mentioned by Big B, this marks the third consecutive year that a movie restored by the foundation will grace Cannes. Previously, FHF presented the restored version of G Aravindan’s Malayalam film ‘Thampu’ (1978) in Cannes Classics in 2022, followed by the restoration of ‘Ishanou’, directed by Manipuri filmmaker Aribam Syam Sharma, under the same segment last year.

Co-written by Benegal and celebrated playwright Vijay Tendulkar, Gujarat-set ‘Manthan’ is believed to be the first crowd-funded Indian film which was entirely crowdfunded by 500,000 farmers who donated Rs 2 each.

The film won two National Film Awards in 1977: for best feature film in Hindi and for best screenplay for Tendulkar. It was also India’s official entry to the 1976 Academy Awards in the best foreign language film category.

Its title song ‘Mero Gaam Katha Parey’, sung by Preeti Sagar, was later used as the soundtrack for Amul’s television commercial.

At the gala, Indian cinema will also be represented by filmmaker Payal Kapadia’s ‘All We Imagine As Light’ in the Competition section, where it will vie for the top prize Palme d’Or, and ‘Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know’, a short film by the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) students, in the La Cinef Competitive section.

The 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival will open on May 14 and come to a close on May 25.