Mumbai: The 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival will always hold a special place in actor Prateik Babbar’s life as his mother Smita Patil’s film ‘Manthan’ is set to screen at the prestigious festival.

When Patik left for Cannes on Thursday morning, he was seen at the Mumbai airport. He was smiling when the shutterbugs clicked him.

The film’s premiere will be attended by the film’s producer Naseeruddin Shah and Shivendra Singh Dungarpur of the Film Heritage Foundation. It will be screened at the festival on May 17.

‘Maathan’, starring Naseeruddin Shah and late actress Smita Patil, is the only Indian film to be selected under the Cannes Classic section of the festival this year. Presenting at the Cannes Film Festival for the third consecutive time, the Film Heritage Foundation has previously premiered ‘Thampe’ (2022) and ‘Ishanou’ (2023) at the prestigious film festival, a statement said.

Starring Smita Patil, the film was inspired by Verghese Kurien’s pioneering milk cooperative movement, who led ‘Operation Flood’ to transform India from a milk-deficient country into the world’s largest milk producing country and a billion-dollar brand. Is given credit for making. ‘Amul’.

Directed by Shyam Benegal, 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.

Shyam Benegal was excited about this and said, “I was very happy when Shivendra told me that the Film Heritage Foundation is going to restart ‘Manthan’ in collaboration with Gujarat Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. Manthan is a film which is very close to my heart. It was funded by 500,000 farmers and played a vital role in the development of an extraordinary cooperative movement that aimed to transform the world by empowering farmers. It will remind us of the power of cinema as a medium and the legacy of the great Verghese Kurien. I have been following the progress of the revival closely and am amazed by the careful approach to film. It is wonderful to see the Film Heritage Foundation not only beautifully restoring films from every region of India, but also bringing them back to the public in festivals and screenings across the world in a way that showcases our culture to contemporary global audiences. Reflects the unique film heritage.”

Naseeruddin Shah said, “I started my career as an actor with ‘Nishant’, followed by ‘Manthan’, both of which were directed by Shyam Benegal. When ‘Manthan’ was released almost 50 years ago, It was a huge success and I still remember that during the shooting of ‘Manthan’, I used to learn to make cow dung cakes and milk the buffalo. and gives character to the unit. I am very glad that the Film Heritage Foundation has restored this remarkable film and this small film made with the support of farmers, has been restored with such love and care, Thanks to the hard work and efforts of the Film Heritage Foundation, this film will be premiered, as it should, in its second edition, at the Cannes Film Festival and I am very happy that I will be there to present it myself. ”

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan also expressed happiness after getting information about the screening of the film in Cannes.

Taking the x, Big B wrote, “T4992 – Very proud that the Film Heritage Foundation will be at the Cannes Film Festival for the third consecutive year with another world premiere of a remarkable restoration – Shyam Benegal’s film “Manthan” which was mesmerizing. The work that the Film Heritage Foundation does to preserve, restore and showcase the best of India’s film heritage to the world is amazing.”