Ratna Pathak and Naseeruddin Shah on the red carpet during their arrival for the screening of the film “Three Kilometers to the End of the World” (Trei) for the restored version of the film “Manthan” (The Churning) presented as part of Cannes Classics Kilometer Pana posing at the La Capatul Lumi) in competition at the 77th Cannes Film Festival on May 17, 2024 in Cannes, France. Photo Credit: Stephen Mahe

Veteran Bollywood actor-couple Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah made a grand debut at the ongoing 77th Cannes Film Festival on Saturday.

During the screening of Shyam Benegal churnThe actor walked the red carpet wearing ethnic attire with late veteran actress Smita Patil’s actor-son Prateik Babbar and Dr. Verghese Kurien’s daughter Nirmala Kurien.

Naseeruddin wore a white sherwani with maroon buttons, while Ratna was seen wearing her saree and a lavender-coloured custom-made blouse hand-woven from recycled cotton and plant dye. Prateek paid tribute to his late mother by wearing a black tuxedo and her patterned silk scarf. Nirmala wore a beautiful blue saree with red pallu.

Family members, cast and crew including Naseeruddin Shah, Shivendra Singh Dungarpur and Ratna Pathak were present on the red carpet for the screening of the restored version of the classic film “Manthan” before “Trei Kilometeri Pana La Capatul Lumi” (Three Kilometers Away) . End of the World) Red carpet at the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival at the Palais des Festivals on May 17, 2024 in Cannes, France. , Photo Credit: Christy Sparrow

Also present at the premiere were Amul MD Jayen Mehta and Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, founder of the Film Heritage Foundation, the NGO behind the restored print.

Benegal’s 1976 film churn It was directed by Patil and starred Girish Karnad, Naseeruddin, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Anant Nag and Suresh Bedi, among others. The film was inspired by the milk cooperative movement of Dr Verghese Kurien, who led ‘Operation Flood’ to transform India from a milk-deficient country to one of the world’s largest milk producers and created the billion-dollar brand Amul. Credit is given.

Co-written by Benegal and renowned playwright Vijay Tendulkar, Gujarat-set churn This was a unique program of its kind as it was entirely funded by 5 lakh farmers who donated Rs 2 each.

The film won two National Film Awards in 1977: for Best Feature Film in Hindi and for Best Screenplay for Tendulkar. It was also India’s official entry for the 1976 Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category.