Cannes An important part of the history of new Indian cinema came into limelight at the 77th Cannes Film Festival on Friday night. A restored 4K version of Shyam Benegal's 1976 film "Manthan" (The Churning), about the creation of India's first dairy cooperative in a Gujarat village, lit up on the screen at Sal Buñuel.
Key members of the film's cast, Naseeruddin Shah, spoke before the screening. "First and foremost, this show Manthan is dedicated to Dr. Verges Kurien," said the veteran actor. “This is also an opportunity to remember Smita Patil, Girish Karnad, Amrish Puri and composer Vanraj Bhatia.,
Shah said, "This was my second film as a screen actor." “I was extremely nervous about how it would perform at the box office. No one considered the film unexpected, but it turned out to be a sleeper hit, which generated more work for all of us.
The actor said that at a time when Hindi filmmakers only made what the audience wanted to see, Shyam Benegal "found ways to speak about the truth of the times".
"Manthan", financed by a contribution of Rs 2 each from five lakh mill farmers, was a follow-up to Benegal's first two films, "Ankur" (1974) and "Nishant" (1976), which were in competition.Cannes Film Festival. I completed a timely and powerful trilogy on the rural crisis.
"Manthan" was restored using a 35 mm camera negative preserved in the Nation Film Archive of India. The sound was digitized from a 35 mm release print owned by the Film Heritage Foundation (FHF), which had begun the restoration project a year and a half earlier. It was funded by Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Limited.The film was restored under the auspices of the FHF at Prasad Corporation's Post-Studio and the Bologna-based L'Imagine Retrovita laboratory in collaboration with Benegal and cinematographer Govind Nihalani.
"It's an extraordinary feeling to be here for the third year in a row," said Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, speaking after Géral Duchaussoy, in charge of Cannes Classics, presented "Manthan."
FHF was at the Cannes Classics in 2022 with Aribam Syam Sharma's Manipur classic "Ishanau" and in 2023 with G. Aravindan's masterly "Thampu".
Dungarpur said that Benegal was not only thrilled with the restoration, but also said that the film is now better than the one he shot.
Dungarpur revealed that the remastered "Manthan" will release in 70 cities on June 1.He said, "If you restore a film, you also have to distribute it."
Smita Patil's son Prateik Babbar was on stage to share his feelings, while the late actor's sisters, Anita Patil Deshmukh and Manya Patil Seth were present in the audience.
Dr. Kurien's daughter Nirmal Kurien was also present at the screening of Manthan.
Key members of the film's cast, Naseeruddin Shah, spoke before the screening. "First and foremost, this show Manthan is dedicated to Dr. Verges Kurien," said the veteran actor. “This is also an opportunity to remember Smita Patil, Girish Karnad, Amrish Puri and composer Vanraj Bhatia.,
Shah said, "This was my second film as a screen actor." “I was extremely nervous about how it would perform at the box office. No one considered the film unexpected, but it turned out to be a sleeper hit, which generated more work for all of us.
The actor said that at a time when Hindi filmmakers only made what the audience wanted to see, Shyam Benegal "found ways to speak about the truth of the times".
"Manthan", financed by a contribution of Rs 2 each from five lakh mill farmers, was a follow-up to Benegal's first two films, "Ankur" (1974) and "Nishant" (1976), which were in competition.Cannes Film Festival. I completed a timely and powerful trilogy on the rural crisis.
"Manthan" was restored using a 35 mm camera negative preserved in the Nation Film Archive of India. The sound was digitized from a 35 mm release print owned by the Film Heritage Foundation (FHF), which had begun the restoration project a year and a half earlier. It was funded by Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Limited.The film was restored under the auspices of the FHF at Prasad Corporation's Post-Studio and the Bologna-based L'Imagine Retrovita laboratory in collaboration with Benegal and cinematographer Govind Nihalani.
"It's an extraordinary feeling to be here for the third year in a row," said Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, speaking after Géral Duchaussoy, in charge of Cannes Classics, presented "Manthan."
FHF was at the Cannes Classics in 2022 with Aribam Syam Sharma's Manipur classic "Ishanau" and in 2023 with G. Aravindan's masterly "Thampu".
Dungarpur said that Benegal was not only thrilled with the restoration, but also said that the film is now better than the one he shot.
Dungarpur revealed that the remastered "Manthan" will release in 70 cities on June 1.He said, "If you restore a film, you also have to distribute it."
Smita Patil's son Prateik Babbar was on stage to share his feelings, while the late actor's sisters, Anita Patil Deshmukh and Manya Patil Seth were present in the audience.
Dr. Kurien's daughter Nirmal Kurien was also present at the screening of Manthan.
