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Film Heritage Foundation, a not-for-profit organization founded by filmmaker and archivist Shivendra Singh Dungarpur has joined hands with Gujarat Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. to restore veteran Indian filmmaker Shyam Benegal’s national award-winning film Manthan which starred the late iconic film actress, Smita Patil. The 4K restoration of the 1976 film has been selected for the official red-carpet world premiere at the 77th Cannes Film Festival in May 2024. Noteworthily, Manthan is the only Indian film to be selected under the Cannes Classic section of the festival this year. The film premiere will be attended by Naseeruddin Shah, the family of the late Smita Patil, the producers of the film and Film Heritage Foundation’s Shivendra Singh Dungarpur.

Restored version of Shyam Benegal’s Manthan starring Smita Patil to premiere at Cannes Film Festival 2024

Manthan, a fictionalized version of the beginnings of the extraordinary dairy cooperative movement that transformed India from a milk-deficient nation to the world’s largest milk producer inspired by Dr. Verghese Kurien, the father of the White Revolution, is also India’s first crowd-sourced film produced by 5,00,000 dairy farmers who contributed Rs. 2 each towards the production of the film. Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Director, Film Heritage Foundation states, “I am so delighted that Film Heritage Foundation will have a red-carpet world premiere of another one of our restorations of an Indian cult classic at the Cannes Film Festival. The restoration of a Shyam Benegal film has been on the Film Heritage Foundation’s wish list for years as he is one of India’s most venerated filmmakers whose early films were iconic in India’s Parallel Cinema movement. The restoration process has been an incredible experience, especially working so closely with Shyam Benegal and Govind Nihalani to painstakingly bring the film back to life. Almost half a century later, the power of the narrative and the compelling performances of the actors, especially Smita Patil, remains undiminished. I wish she was here to see the beauty of the restoration.”

Shyam Benegal states, “I was absolutely delighted when Shivendra told me that Film Heritage Foundation was going to restore Manthan in collaboration with the Gujarat Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. Manthan is a film that is very close to my heart as 500,000 farmers funded it and was instrumental in the growth of an extraordinary cooperative movement that was aimed at breaking the shackles of economic inequality and caste discrimination whilst empowering the farmers. It will remind the world of the power of cinema as a vehicle of change and also the legacy of the great Verghese Kurien, the Father of the White Revolution. Govind Nihalani and I have been following the progress of the restoration closely and I am amazed by the meticulous approach to the restoration. It is wonderful to see the film come back to life almost like we made it yesterday. Film Heritage Foundation has been doing remarkable work in film restoration. Not only are they beautifully restoring films from every region of India, but bringing them back to the public at festivals and screenings around the world in a way that showcases our unique film heritage to contemporary global audiences.”

Naseeruddin Shah states, “I started my career as an actor with ‘Nishant’ followed by ‘Manthan’, both directed by Shyam Benegal. Manthan was a runaway success when it was released almost 50 years ago and it is a film that is remembered even today. I remember that during the shooting of ‘Manthan,’ I lived in the hut, learnt to make cow dung cakes and milk a buffalo. I would carry the buckets and serve the milk to the unit to get the physicality of the character. I am so glad that the Film Heritage Foundation has restored this remarkable film and that this small film made with the support of the farmers has been restored with so much love and care. It is thanks to the persistence, hard work and efforts of the Film Heritage Foundation that the film will be premiered in its second life, as it deserves to be, at the Cannes Film Festival and I am so glad that I will be there to present it myself.”

Govind Nihalani states, “It is remarkable that the Film Heritage Foundation is restoring Manthan nearly fifty years since it was made. Being involved in the restoration has been an emotional experience. It has taken me back to 1976 when the entire unit lived like a family in the village of Sanganva in Gujarat for 45 days during which the film was shot. The shooting was challenging because we had to use a patchwork of different film stock– Eastman and Gevacolor besides Kodak, 35 mm for the film and 16 mm for the film within the film. I began my career as a cinematographer with Shyam Benegal first shooting ad films and then his early feature films. We’ve had an immensely creatively satisfying relationship over the years as Shyam involves you as a partner in the creative process of the film and not just as a cameraman. I am so happy to hear that the restoration of the film will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival this year.”

Presenting at the Cannes Film Festival for the third time in a row, the Film Heritage Foundation has previously premiered Thamp̄ (2022) and Ishanou (2023) at the prestigious film festival.

Film Heritage Foundation used the best-surviving elements for the restoration – the original 35 mm original camera negative and the 35 mm release print preserved at the NFDC – NFAI. Unfortunately, the sound negative was not available. The sound was digitized from the 35 mm release print preserved at the Film Heritage Foundation. The film elements were repaired by the Film Heritage Foundation conservators and the scanning was done in Prasad Lab in Chennai. They found that due to the deterioration of the print, there were vertical green lines on many parts of the film. While the scanning and digital clean-up were done at Prasad under the supervision of L’Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna, the grading, sound restoration and mastering was done at the lab in Bologna. Both Shyam Benegal and Govind Nihalani, the cinematographer of the film, have been involved in the restoration of the film.

Restored by Film Heritage Foundation at Prasad Corporation Pvt. Ltd.’s Post – Studios, Chennai and L’Immagine Ritrovata Laboratory, in association with Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd., the cinematographer Govind Nihalani and the director Shyam Benegal. Funding supported by Gujarat Co-Operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd.

Released in 1976, Manthan (Hindi for “The Churning”) is a film by director Shyam Benegal that explores the challenges and triumphs of social change in rural India. Set against the backdrop of a village struggling with poverty and exploitation, the film chronicles the arrival of Dr. Rao (Girish Karnad), an idealistic veterinarian, who attempts to establish a milk cooperative movement.

The narrative unfolds in Sanganva, a village rife with social inequalities. The villagers, particularly the Dalit community (considered “untouchables” in the caste system), are forced to sell their milk at meagre prices to Mishraji (Amrish Puri), a local businessman with a monopoly on the dairy trade. The village headman (Kulbhushan Kharbanda), representing the upper caste, upholds the status quo, fearing a loss of power if the established social hierarchy is disrupted. Bhola (Naseeruddin Shah), the leader of the Dalit community, initially views Dr. Rao with suspicion, a sentiment echoed by Bindu (Smita Patil), a strong-willed milkmaid.

Dr. Rao’s vision is one of equitable distribution of profits, free from the exploitation of middlemen. This radical idea disrupts the existing power structures, sparking mistrust, anger, and resistance. The village headman and Mishraji, threatened by the potential loss of control, actively oppose the cooperative movement. Bhola’s initial scepticism gradually gives way to cautious support as Dr. Rao’s commitment to fair treatment becomes evident.

As Dr. Rao gains the trust of the villagers, particularly Bindu, Mishraji resorts to underhanded tactics. He exploits the existing social divisions, manipulating Bindu’s husband to fabricate a false accusation of rape against Dr. Rao. Devastated by the betrayal, Dr. Rao contemplates leaving the village. However, Bhola, inspired by Dr. Rao’s vision, steps forward to continue the cooperative’s development. With the villagers’ support, and Bindu’s eventual vindication, the cooperative flourishes, offering a glimmer of hope for a more just future.

Manthan is a richly layered film that transcends the boundaries of a mere social commentary. The stellar cast delivers powerful performances, bringing depth and complexity to their characters. The cinematography by Govind Nihalani captures the stark beauty of rural India, while the music by Vanraj Bhatia complements the narrative effectively.

ALSO READ: Nawazuddin Siddiqui applauds Smita Patil’s enduring beauty; says, “The West was drawn to her”

More Pages: Manthan Box Office Collection

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Shyam Benegal, who celebrated his 89th birthday this month, is one of the most outstanding filmmakers in Indian Cinema. He has never claimed to be a “feminist” filmmaker but his films clearly show his regard, respect, and concern for women across caste, class, status, education.

They defy Laura Mulvey’s theory of the “male gaze” framed in 1975 in which she says that women in films are objects of titillation that sensualises their bodies without probing into their minds.

She stated that as the director was male and so were his technicians, with the audience majorly male, the women in their films were reduced to ‘objects’ and not ‘subjects’ of the films they featured in.

Benegal did not subscribe to this theory. Even when he made films centered on sex workers, he saw that they were strong ‘subjects’ and not ‘objects’.

Benegal’s Films Dabbled With Women in Socially Sensitive Contexts

Benegal’s first feature film Ankur (1974) introduced the powerful FTII gold medalist Shabana Azmi. She is the wife of a deaf-mute farmer who is a Dalit wage-labourer played by Sadhu Meher, in the village zamindar (Anant Nag)’s home where his wife works as a housemaid.

The young zamindar manipulates an affair with the maid though he is a married man. Through these incidents, the film defines a sharp critique of casteism, sexual exploitation, silent abuse of the zamindar’s wife played by Priya Tendulkar, and physical torture of the deaf-mute labourer.
Bhoomika (The Role, 1977) was based on the autobiography titled ‘Sangtye Aika’ (Listen to this) penned by a famous Marathi-speaking actress of her time, Hansa Wadkar. For Bhoomika, Benegal based the film on Wadkar’s autobiography and had actress Smita Patil play her on screen.

The film was much ahead of its time when the audiences could hardly be expected to digest a film with a woman protagonist who lived a very controversial life completely on her terms after a stormy and exploitative girlhood in which she was victimised and exploited by her own mother and her lover, financially and sexually.

It explores the invisible and little-known areas of female subjectivity. Although biographical in intent, Bhoomika’s structural complexity seems to suggest that the journey of self-exploration undertaken by Usha (named Urvashi for her screen persona) portrayed by Patil when she was very fresh in films, is circular, full of snares, forever incomplete.

Portrayal of Complex and Conflicting Themes With Ease Was His Forte

Mandi (Marketplace, 1983) is one of the very few films that revolve around an old brothel the existence of which stands threatened because of land-grabbers, including local politicians, and landlords who wished to grab the land on which the brothel stands without offering them any alternative space.

The brothel, located along the fringes of Hyderabad city, is headed by a madam portrayed by Shabana Azmi. Benegal has used burlesque as the mode to explore the dynamics of a whorehouse. He tempers the film with an air of black comedy, allowing for some crude voyeurism in keeping with the social environment in which the women live.

Mandi makes a delightful case of depicting the conflicting and complex aspects of prostitution.

Sooraj Ka Satvan Ghoda (The Seventh Horse of the Sun, 1992): Based on Dharamvir Bharati’s noted Hindi novel of the same name, this film is not only a classic example of the transcription/interpretation of literature on celluloid, but also, one of the few celluloid experiments with the lost art of storytelling.

Characters of one story telescope and move freely in and out of the other two, growing with time, and subtly hinting at the changes in their lives, as seen from the point of view of Manek Mulla played by Rajit Kapoor who grows from a gawky adolescent with a big crush on young girl Jamuna in the neighbouring house to a young man in the second story till in the last episode, he is a fully grown adult trying to cope with the pained and tortured and exploited young gypsy girl Sakti (Neena Gupta), but failing to come to a definite closure in any of the relationships.

Suggested adultery enriches the tapestry and texture of Sooraj Ka Saatvan Ghoda. Of the three women who enter Manek Mulla’s life, one is adulterous purely by suggestion, even before she becomes a widow. Jamuna, forced to marry an old widower, suddenly finds herself pregnant.

But can one rightfully call it adultery? The question is left hanging in mid-air, leaving you to find the right answer which would depend on your perspective on morals underlined by patriarchy.

Zubeidaa (2001) is said to be Benegal’s costliest film before Netaji – comprising four female characters that offers an insight into Benegal’s mastery in understanding and handling the woman psyche from every angle transcending barriers of communal identity, age, background, status, and education.

Apart from Zubeidaa (Karishma Kapoor), there is Fayyazi(Surekhha Sikri) her mother, who is not very educated and is Muslim. She is submissive and never raises her voice against her domineering and abusive husband Suleiman (Amrish Puri) even when he openly flaunts his keep, Rose Davenport (Lilette Dubey) in public.

But Fayyazi takes a critical decision when Zubeidaa decides to marry her Hindu prince of Jodhpur, Hukam Singh(Manoj Bajpeyee) though he is already married to Mandira (Rekha) and has kids. But she does not permit Zubeidaa to take little Riyaz with her.

When Riyaaz comes to meet Rose, she is a ghost of her former self, without work or identity because, post Independence, the Anglo Indian was gradually falling out of favour with the newly formed Indian Government. Mandira (Rekha), the original queen of Hukam Singh, is officially acknowledged by the Royal family, by the Royal family and by the subjects of Fatehpur.

She speaks impeccable English but is always bejewelled and costumed royally like any Indian princess of her time. Her name is abbreviated to the British-sounding Mandy, probably motivated by the sycophantic allegiance Indian royalty bore towards the British.

But she had affection for the much younger Zubeidaa and was pleasantly surprised by her free spirit, her living life completely on her own terms though it brought her not only unhappiness but, a lack of rootedness that finally led to her death in the plant crash. Was the crash a sabotage? Or, was it just a crash? Benegal leaves the question open.

(Shoma A Chatterji is an Indian film scholar, author and freelance journalist. This is an opinion article and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)

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