“Manthan” is a powerful film about the tempestuous winds of change that blow through a village when Dr. Rao (Girish Karnad) an idealistic veterinary surgeon from the city arrives to work with the locals to start a milk cooperative movement. The villagers, half of whom are Dalits, sell their milk to a local businessman Mishraji (Amrish Puri) who cheats them by paying a very low rate for the milk. The village headman (Kulbhushan Kharbanda), an upper caste man, is opposed to the idea as he does not want his higher social status diminished as is Bhola (Naseerudin Shah), the leader of the Dalits. He faces stiff resistance from the village headman (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) and Mishraji, the exploitative dairy owner, insecure about losing their power to a cooperative, Bhola (Naseeruddin Shah), a lower-caste peasant who views the city dweller with suspicion and Bindu (Smita Patil), a feisty milkmaid whose initial misgivings about the doctor blossoms into liking and support for his initiative.
His notions of equitable distribution of profits irrespective of class and caste and freedom from exploitative middlemen, churn up a maelstrom of mistrust, anger and resistance among the feudal landlords and the peasants, threatening the deep-rooted social hierarchy based on generations of discrimination.
RESTORATION CREDITS:
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.(Amul), the cinematographer Govind Nihalani and the director Shyam Benegal.
Manthan was restored using the best surviving elements: the 35 mm original camera negative preserved at the NFDC-National Film Archive of India and the 35 mm release print preserved at Film Heritage Foundation.
Portions of the original camera negative had colour fading and variations, green mould and flicker, while many parts of the 35 mm print had scratches and vertical green lines. The sound negative had completely deteriorated and could not be used. The sound was digitised from the 35 mm release print.
Funding supported by Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd.(Amul)
Images Courtsey : All the images are courtesy of Film Heritage Foundation
Shyam Benegal (14 December 1934 – 23 December 2024) was an Indian film director, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker. Often regarded as the pioneer of parallel cinema, he is widely considered as one of the greatest filmmakers post 1970s.He has received several accolades, including eighteen National Film Awards, a Filmfare Award and a Nandi Award. In 2005, he was honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India's highest award in the field of cinema. In 1976, he was honoured by the Government of India with the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian honour of the country, and in 1991, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian honour for his contributions in the field of arts.
Benegal was born in Hyderabad to Sridhar B. Benegal who was prominent in the field of photography.Starting his career as a copywriter, he made his first Documentary film in Gujarati, Gher Betha Ganga (Ganges at the Doorstep) in 1962. Benegal's first four feature films – Ankur (1973), Nishant (1975), Manthan (1976) and Bhumika (1977) – made him a pioneer of the new wave film movement of that period. Benegal's "Muslim Women Trilogy" films Mammo (1994), Sardari Begum (1996), and Zubeidaa (2001) all won National Film Awards for Best Feature Film in Hindi. Benegal has won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi seven times. He was awarded the V. Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018. 
The New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) is the oldest, most prestigious film festival screening premieres of feature, documentary and
short films made from, of, and about the Indian subcontinent in the Independent, arthouse, alternate and diaspora genres.
