New Year 2025: Doordarshan to screen restored version of Manthan in tribute to Shyam Benegal

Renowned Indian filmmaker Shyam Benegal, who died on 23 December 2024 aged 90, is set to return to television screens across the country on 1 January 2025 — state-run broadcaster Doordarshan is airing a restored version of his 1976 class Manthan at 8pm on New Year’s Day.

Doordarshan today announced that it would ring in the New Year by screening the 4K restored version of Shyam Benegal’s Manthan as homage to the veteran filmmaker.

The film’s title, which translates to “The Churning”, is taken from the traditional Indian process of churning milk to separate the cream. The plot is based on a watershed moment: the “white revolution” brought about in the Indian dairy sector by the milk co-operative movement pioneered by Verghese Kurien.

Film Heritage Foundation (FHF), which restored the 1976 classic film for its premiere in the Cannes Classic section at the Cannes Film Festival earlier in 2024, shared the update on its official X page.

According to FHF, Manthan will be broadcast on Doordarshan on Wednesday at 8pm.

“To pay tribute to the late Shyam Benegal, Doordarshan will begin the new year with a screening of Manthan (1976) restored by FHF with support from the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (Amul) on Jan 1, 2025, at 8.m. on Doordarshan,” said the Foundation.

Shyam Benegal, the pioneer of the parallel cinema movement in India in the 1970s and 1980s, died due to chronic kidney disease.

India’s first “crowdfunded” film, backed by 500,000 farmers

The plot of Manthan was inspired by the ground-breaking milk co-operative movement that transformed India into one of the largest milk producers in the world.

Manthan was also perhaps India’s first “crowdfunded” film, long before the term became popular. The Hindi film was financed by 5 lakh (half a million) farmers from Gujarat 48 years ago, each of whom contributed INR 2 (USD 0.02 at current exchange rates) each. The opening credits of the movie read: “500,000 Farmers of Gujarat present.”

The plot of Manthan narrates the story of how a young veterinary doctor (played by Girish Karnad) fights against oppressive forces to establish a milk co-operative that empowers rural farmers. The film co-stars Smita Patil, Naseeruddin Shah, and Amrish Puri.