Naseeruddin Shah and Shivendra Singh Dungarpur speak to Anupama Chopra about their film Manthan (1976), which was shown at the 77th Cannes film Festival as part of Cannes Classics. Directed by Shyam Benegal, the film was crowd-funded by 500,000 farmers from the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Federation, each contributing two rupees. Shah reflected on Manthan’s unexpected success and the experience of presenting it to a non-Indian audience. Dungarpur speaks passionately about the work of the Film Heritage Foundation and their efforts to preserve and restore Indian films. Shah hopes that the Cannes screening of Manthan and its re-release in India spawns a generation of people who care about the preservation of important cinema.
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