Amul’s Manthan classic movie selected for world premiere in US
Credit: GCMMF
Shyam Benegal’s Manthan, the award-winning 1976 feature film produced by 500,000 dairy farmers of the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (Amul), has been selected for screening at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, as part of the “Emotion in Colour: A Kaleidoscope of Indian Cinema,” a curated selection of 12 iconic films from India, on 10 March 2025.
GCMMF (Amul) joined hands with the Film Heritage Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation, to restore Manthan in 4K. The 4K restoration of Manthan was selected for the official red-carpet world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2024. Noteworthily, Manthan was the only Indian film to be selected under the Cannes Classic section of the festival.
The groundbreaking series of 12 iconic films including Manthan for screening at Academy Museum, Los Angeles, has been curated by Shri Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, the founding director of Film Heritage Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to preserving India’s cinematic legacy.
“Manthan is inspired by the pioneering milk cooperative movement of Dr. Verghese Kurien, the father of the White Revolution of India. The film has had a huge impact on the dairy cooperative movement. It inspired millions of farmers across the nation to come together to form local dairy cooperatives and has contributed immensely towards India’s journey to self-sufficiency in milk production. India became the world’s largest milk producer in 1998 and has retained the position since then. Manthan was India’s submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film (Oscars) in 1976 and we are very honoured to have film being screened in 2025, the International Year of Cooperation, declared by the United Nations.,” said Jayen Mehta, managing director of GCMMF.
Starring iconic actors such as Smita Patil, Naseeruddin Shah, Girish Karnad and Amrish Puri, Manthan’s story revolves around the struggles and triumphs of a small set of poor farmers, who come together to form a dairy cooperative to improve their economic conditions. It depicts the story of the inception of an extraordinary dairy cooperative movement that transformed India from a milk-deficient nation to the world’s largest milk producer.
Manthan was also the first crowdfunded Indian film, with the dairy farmers of GCMMF contributing to fund its production cost. The film showcases the transformative potential of community-driven initiatives and marks a significant chapter in Indian cinema’s socially relevant narratives.
Manthan won the 1977 National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi and National Film Award for Best Screenplay for Vijay Tendulkar.
