After its Cannes Film Festival premiere, Shyam Benegal's 'Manthan' is set to re-release in Indian theatres. The Film Heritage Foundation Monday announced that ticket bookings for the film are now open. The restored version of 'Manthan' will re-release theatrically on June 1 and 2 across 38 cities in India, including Mumbai, New Delhi, Anand, Rajkot, Chennai, Kochi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, and Chandigarh.
“BOOKINGS OPEN TODAY! Don’t miss the opportunity to watch the India premiere of FHF’s restoration of Shyam Benegal’s landmark film ‘Manthan’ produced by 500,000 farmers on the big screen! Stay tuned to know more about the booking process," FHF said in an X post.
At the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, a restored version of the 1976 movie, financed by 5 lakh farmers of Gujarat 48 years ago who donated ₹2 each to fund the film, was showcased under the Cannes Classics segment on May 17. The restoration was done on the 35mm original camera negative kept at the NFDC-National Film Archive of India, with sound digitised from the 35mm release print conserved at the Mumbai-based FHF.
Fronted by Smita Patil, the film was inspired by the milk cooperative movement of Verghese Kurien, who led 'Operation Flood' to transform India from a milk-deficient country to one of the world's biggest milk producers and is credited for creating the billion-dollar brand Amul.
Co-written by Benegal and Vijay Tendulkar, the film won two National Film Awards in 1977: for best feature film in Hindi and Best Screenplay. It was also India's official entry to the 1976 Academy Awards in the best foreign language film category.
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