Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah recently attended the Cannes Film Festival as a part of the screening of his 1976 film Manthan, almost 50 years after its release. The actor, who was accompanied on the red carpet by his wife Ratna Pathak Shah, called the experienced as "terribly emotional." Speaking with Brut India, the actor said, "It felt unreal to me. I have always seen the red carpet ceremony either on video or in photographs. I have seen all these lovely ladies parading themselves in their gorgeous costumes. I never dreamt I'd be a part of that one day. So, my wife and I decided to keep it as simple as possible. And, of course, it was a terribly emotional experience. Because there were so many friends who were in the film. Girish was a friend and my teacher. He was the director of FTII. Smita was a dear friend and so was Amrish. None of them are there any longer."
He also added, "So many faces which one had sort of slipped one's memory. To see all those people again who used to, who were almost everybody in the unit got dragged in... I felt very proud, prouder of this film than I have ever felt. I've always treasured this film very dearly to my heart. So it was a moving experience, I could hardly hold back the tears. And I find that the film has really stood the test of time."
The screening of Manthan at Cannes Film Festival took place on Friday evening. It was attended by Naseeruddin, his wife Ratna Pathak Shah, late Smita Patil's son Prateik Babbar, Verghese Kurien's daughter Nirmala Kurien, sisters of Smita Patil-Anita Patil Deshmukh and Manya Patil Seth.
Manthan, directed by Shyam Benegal, is inspired by the pioneering milk cooperative movement of Verghese Kurien.