Hardly any Indian is unfamiliar with the name Amul. Its story has always been inspiring, but there is a story behind it which you might not know about. If I say that Indian cinema is also indebted to the farmers, what would you say? Let us understand this whole story in detail, how farmers donated Rs 2 to make a film on a company worth Rs 80 thousand crores and how this film became a success at the box office. This was the historical film Manthan.

Name of the revolution 'White Revolution'

On January 13, 1970, a revolution started in the country, which is known as 'Operation Flood' or 'White Revolution'. It brought about significant changes in the Indian dairy industry and enriched the lives of millions of rural dairy farmers. Amidst this revolution, a name emerged 'Amul', which is a cooperative dairy. Today it is one of the largest milk producing companies in India. Amul's contribution in this success was very important for the expansion of the White Revolution.

Brainstorming forced me to think

The film Manthan, released in the 1970s, forced people to think. The story of this film was about Amul and White Revolution, which was made with the donations of farmers. The then famous film director Shyam Benegal had collected donations from 5 lakh farmers for this film. The actors who acted in the film were famous actors like Smita Patil, Girish Karnad, Naseeruddin Shah and Amrish Puri. The co-writer of this film was Dr. Verghese Kurien, who is known as the founder of 'Amul'.

The story of the film's production

The production story of Manthan is very interesting. Tribhuvandas Patel, who was a freedom fighter, started working with farmers in Kheda, Gujarat after independence. Dr. Varghese Kurien, who returned from America after completing his studies in 1949, also joined Tribhuvandas. Under the leadership of Dr. Kurien, this cooperative society became Asia's largest dairy, which we know today as Amul. Shyam Benegal met Dr. Kurien and Kurien wanted the entire story of the White Revolution to be recorded in history.

How was the film made?

Initially Shyam Benegal was thinking of making a documentary on it, but later he decided to make it as a feature film. This is how the creation of Manthan began. Shyam Benegal tells in an interview that the idea of ​​making a film was there, but where the money would come from was a big question. Dr. Kurien found a solution to this. He requested the farmers to sell their milk for Rs 6 for a day and the budget of the film was prepared with Rs 2. Thus, the budget of the film was prepared and it was made. After the film was made, Manthan also received the National Film Award in 1976.