Shyam Benegal’s famous 1976 film Manthan is being screened at the Cannes Film Festival after 48 years.
The movie starts with “This is the proposal of 500,000 farmers of Gujarat…Mantha”.
According to filmmaker Shyam Benegal, the film, based on a cooperative marketing federation in Gujarat, was co-financed by five million farmers, each contributing two rupees.
In the movie, Dr. Rao is an idealistic doctor who comes to open a cooperative, while Mishra (Amrish Puri) is a dairy owner who exploits farmers by offering cheap milk.
Ignoring each other is not only natural, but necessary. Her husband was an alcoholic, she raised the children as a single mother, and she managed the household expenses by selling milk.
When Dr. Rao first goes to Bando’s (Smita Patil) house to get a milk sample, when asked where her husband is, she says, “He’s here, what do you want?”
From Smita Patil’s first scene, it is clear that she is poor and oppressed, but she is not afraid.
United Nations
The United Nations specially invited Shyam Benegal and Warghe Kurie to the UN headquarters to talk about the cooperative movement in other countries, where the screening of Manthan was held. It was later shown in Russia and China.
Manthan, produced in 1976, portrayed village life realistically and the issues are still relevant today.
The film shows a farmer who is forced to sell milk at a low price. India is still struggling to get the right price for its crops.
In the film, it is clear that the upper caste dominates the village and the Sarpanch (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) treats the Dalits differently.
Even when the cooperative was formed, the Sarpanch (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) ordered the farmers to stand in separate queues according to their category to sell milk.
Reports of caste-based discrimination still make headlines.
Shot by Govind Nihalani’s camera and Shyam Benegal’s vision, this movie looks awful in many ways. The village does not have a basic health center, so Dr. Rao (Girish Karnad) has to treat people like animals.
Today, the situation has not changed much as basic health services are not available in many rural areas of India.
Example of Naseeruddin Shah
The idea of dairy owners using farmers in a cooperative context is clear from Amrish Puri’s conversation with Amrish Puri: “Young people are always idealistic, they want to change the world. But change does not always bring progress.”
But in the middle of all the frustrations and problems associated with the cooperative movement, this film brings positive changes and new ideas. An example of this is Naseeruddin Shah’s character in Bhola.
A young farmer, whose ancestors have not been paid. He did not believe in the idealistic ideas of Dr. Rao is from the city, so he did not join the dairy cooperative.
But slowly and steadily, Bhola’s rough and resilient nature is not only part of the cooperative movement, but due to various pressures, when Dr. Rao’s orders were exchanged, Bhola explained to the villagers of Bholpur and assured them that he would not. allow the cooperative to be disturbed.
Be it through vernacular or inner rage, Naseeruddin Shah’s character in Bhola brings his character to life.
Apart from that, ‘Manthan’ also explores the relationship between Dr. Rao (Girish Karnad) and Bando (Smita Patil).
An educated city, an educated doctor and a rural, illiterate woman united for a common goal. Both are married. But there is an unnamed relationship between them that cannot be properly explained.
