Naseeruddin Shah 'could hardly hold back tears' as he attended Manthan screening at Cannes almost 50 years after release

Actor Naseeruddin Shah spoke about being a part of the screening of his 1976 film Manthan at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, almost 50 years after its release. Speaking with Brut India, the actor called it "terribly emotional experience". He also said that he felt prouder of this film than he has ever felt. Naseeruddin also said that being a part of the film festival and walking the red carpet felt unreal" to him." (Also Read | Naseeruddin Shah says he wants to do a 'courageous' film on religion: ‘Most harmful things that happened to humanity’)

Naseeruddin remembers Smita Patil, Girish Karnad, Amrish Puri

Naseeruddin 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."

Naseeruddin could 'hardly hold back' his tears

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."

About Manthan

Manthan, directed by Shyam Benegal, was inspired by the pioneering milk cooperative movement of Verghese Kurien. It is set against the backdrop of the White Revolution of India. The film was entirely crowdfunded by 500,000 farmers who donated ₹2 each. Apart from Naseeruddin, the film also starred Girish Karnad, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Smita Patil, Mohan Agashe, Anant Nag and Amrish Puri, among others.

Manthan at Cannes

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.