Didn't do any publicity, farmers made 'Manthan' successful: Benegal ahead of film's Cannes screening

About five lakh farmers of the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Limited (GCMMF) contributed Rs 2 for the production of the film, which was made on a budget of Rs 10 lakh, said Benegal. (Image via X)

Mumbai, May 14 (PTI) There was no publicity for "Manthan" but it developed its own momentum when five lakh Gujarat farmers, who contributed Rs 2 each to produce the film, became its "original audience" by turning up in huge numbers to watch it in different parts of the state, says director Shyam Benegal about his 1976 classic.

A restored version of "Manthan", starring Smita Patil, Naseeruddin Shah and Girish Karnad, is set to be screened at the Cannes Film Festival's Classics segment on May 17.

"They've done an excellent job. The quality of the print now is better than what the first print of the film was 45 years ago, when the film was made," Benegal, 89, told PTI in an interview, crediting Film Heritage Foundation (FHF), founded by Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, for the film's restoration.

"Manthan" (The Churning) was inspired by the pioneering milk cooperative movement of Verghese Kurien, who led 'Operation Flood' to transform India from a milk-deficient country to the world's biggest milk producer and is credited for creating the billion dollar brand Amul.

It was a unique exercise in filmmaking and perhaps one of the first crowd-funded movies to come out of India. Benegal, who will skip the premiere due to health reasons, still remembers how it became a movement of sorts among the farmers of Gujarat to see the movie.

"The farmers, who had produced the film, helped make it successful. Once the film opened in Saurashtra, Gujarat, it had an excellent run. It was because of the farmers, they were the original audience of the film; they got their families.

"They wanted everybody to see it as they believed it was their film. They all would come on bullock carts to see the film, be it from Ahmedabad, Baroda or other places in Gujarat. We didn't do any kind of publicity, the film developed its own momentum," he recalled.

About five lakh farmers of the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Limited (GCMMF) contributed Rs 2 for the production of the film, which was made on a budget of Rs 10 lakh, said Benegal, who had co-written the script with noted playwright Vijay Tendulkar.

"It was great to see small farmers come together and create a base capital," said Benegal.

The premiere of the film, which was shot in a tiny village called Sanganva in Gujarat's Rajkot district, was held in various parts of the state. "Manthan" became one of Benegal's most well-travelled movies by being showcased in places such as the erstwhile Soviet Union, United Nations and parts of South America.

Benegal had already made socially-relevant films like “Ankur” (1974) and “Nishant” (1975) before "Manthan". He credits Kurien for helping him mount the film, which was born after Benegal directed two documentaries on GCMMF, which owns Amul.

"I found many fascinating stories which we put together to make this film. We checked particularly with farmers of Gujarat and Saurashtra about whether they'd like a feature film about them. They were absolutely thrilled. That’s how the whole idea came about. Then Dr Kurien, who was a magician, got all the farmers to pay a little money. A lot of things wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for him," the filmmaker said.

Speaking about the casting of Patil, Shah and Karnad, Benegal said the three actors were his first choice.

"We had some great actors. Most of them were trained actors and it made a huge difference, they made it all worth it,” he said.

"Look at the actors who came from the National School of Drama (NSD). You had people like Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, and there were people who were not trained at these institutions but were talented, like Smita Patil. It made for a wonderful change in our entertainment industry," he added. "Manthan" won two National Film Awards in 1977: for best feature film in Hindi and best screenplay for Tendulkar. It was also India's official entry to the 1976 Academy Awards in the best foreign language film category (now called best international film).

Benegal said they were "short of foreign exchange" at the time of the Oscars.

"Life used to be pretty difficult then. Today's generation has no idea about it," he said.

The filmmaker said it was Kurien's idea to crowd source the funds for the movie.

"Dr Kurien had this brilliant idea... He was like, ‘You have almost a billion daily farmers in one state’. They were paid Rs 2 less from what money they were supposed to get after supplying the milk in the morning and evening. About 5,00,000 farmers contributed to 'Manthan', it was their film. It was publicised as a film produced by the farmers." Benegal believes the movie is relevant as certain issues that it explored exist even today.

"In the film, we showed the problems that affect our countryside in terms of economic welfare, social change, and how do you get a community to develop things. "These themes are relevant today. India is a complex country and it also has problems related to caste, untouchability that was 50 years ago. There are changes today but there are still some pockets in the country that have these problems," he said.

The 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival runs from May 14 to May 25.