Film Discussion: Manthan
Director: Shyam Benegal
Date: 29 May 2021, Saturday
Moderator : Tanmayee Kawali
The film 'Manthan', directed by Dadasaheb Phalke Award winner - Shyam Benegal in 1976, is inspired by the pioneering milk cooperative movement led by Dr. Verghese Kurien under White Revolution. It has won the 1977 National Film Award for the Best Feature Film in Hindi and also the Best Screenplay Award for Vijay Tendulkar. Manthan is considered as one of the bulwark of parallel Hindi cinema of the 1970s.
White Revolution was one of the biggest development movements brought by the Government in 1970 in India. It took a step towards progress and likewise economically enabled the dairy industry to expand a cooperative which resulted in the employment and leadership qualities in the most marginalized farmers.
The filmmakers have thanked the Rajkot Diary and the Gram Panchayat of Sanganva village in the credits.
The film begins with an elegant and melodic Gujarati Folk Song 'मेरो गाम काठा पारे' sung by Preeti Sagar. Sagar received the 'Filmfare Best Female Playback Singer' Award. The song is used by Amul for its promotion.
Dr. Rao ( Girish Karnad ) played an important role as a Veterinarian. He came to Gujarat for the Cooperative Society Project and also to change the life of people and give them a new way of living. When he reaches the village, he refuses to travel on the horse cart which was overloaded, instead, he decides to walk and reach his destination. Here we can catch a glimpse of his care and love towards animals. Dr. Rao is a visionary who advocates the power of Collective Action and Responsibility. He acts as a catalyst to churn the villagers to take responsibility and accountability with themselves and improve their lives, but he is also caught up between the vote bank and caste politics of the village.
In this regard, Manthan is a remarkable film because it was India's first crowdfunded film, presented by 5 lakh farmers of Gujarat. 5 lakh villagers contributed Rs 2 each for the making of their churning - Manthan, the film. What is depicted on screen, the strength of Collective Action is also seen in the making of the film which went to become one of the blockbusters of its time due to the determination of the farmers to showcase their story to the world.
Smita Patil in the role of Bindu appears on the screen with artistic glances and a Gujarati costume. The discussion revolved around her consent, agency, her voice with the masculine and patriarchal structure of the village. She is the sole breadwinner of her family, with a young one to feed, yet she does not have financial autonomy. Initially, she acts furious at Dr. Rao and rejects to lend the milk samples but over time we see a friendship and probably in one of the scenes, a physical attraction being built up between the two. One may also see Bindu as a symbol of socialist feminism. Through Bindu, the director depicts that one can be bold as well as vulnerable.
All the villagers use to sell their milk to a local dairy owner, Mishra (Amrish Puri) who deceived the poor farmers by giving them one rupee per litre. A significant number of the village population was of the Harijan caste. When the doctor and his team of 3 men came to the village and requested people to sell their milk to the Society and earn more income through the components present in their milk, people were afraid and sceptical to sell their product to the Society because of Mishra's power over the village. Mishra is seen as the symbol of capitalism, egocentric nature and status quo.
Bhola (Naseeruddin Shah) who belonged to the lower caste family was the one who supports the Society and also encourages his community to sell their milk to the Society. By the end of the film, he comes out to be a strong leader and the voice of the poorest and most marginalized sections of the society, who will lead India to be a self-sufficient nation in the future. Through Bhola one also sees and understands the caste prejudices, barriers, rift of the various communities of the village. In one of the scene, Bhola mentions that the people of his community are made easy targets of criminal proceedings. One can also link this to the 'criminal tribe' status that was given to certain tribes in the British era. Through this status they were branded as thieves, bandits and had to go through constant suspicion and bullying by the judicial system. These tribes/ castes were denotified by the government of independent India in 1952.
The rural versus urban divide is constantly taking place in the film. Both sides are sceptical about each other, their capabilities and their intelligence. Both have strong prejudices and preconceived notions. This is also due to the working style and the approach towards change. Dr. Rao as the 'intruder' into the rural system is determinant to establish the Society. Once done, he and his team would leave the village but the villagers have to face and run the Society which was the vision and creation of someone from the upper class and urban landscape.
The Sarpanch of the village who belonged to the upper caste and class wanted to win the election and was not ready to accept his failure after the elections and was even willing to rig it. The Sarpanch has been getting elected unopposed. Along with Mishra he is also the chief perpetrator of the status quo and wants the power and authority to remain in his hands. A strong critique of the democratic system is seen here.
The relationships between these three pairs were the most discussed aspect of the discussion:
1.) Dr. Rao and Shanta
From an outside perspective, the couple might look very happy and satisfied but Shanta is heavily prejudiced against the rural population and the castes. Dr. Rao encourages her to interact with the local population but Shanta chooses to remain within the four walls of her home and continue with her biases. She fails to give support to her husband's cause and is indifferent to his work.
2.) Chandravarkar and the village woman
This couple is in a consensual relation, yet the class and caste barriers forces the village people and Dr. Rao to separate them. They have sexual freedom and choice but they are subjected to the viewpoints and restrictions of the society. The woman is flogged by her own family. This practise is seen even in today's time. Dr. Rao forces his colleague Chandravarkar to leave the village without taking his views and consent into account.
3.) Bindu and her husband
Bindu and her husband are into a toxic relationship of mental and physical abuse. He spends his time as an alcoholic whereas Bindu earns and sustains the family, yet Bindu doesn't have economic liberty.
The participants also engaged in a healthy debate about the 'abrupt ending' of the film and how the film should have shaped up towards its climax. Ethical and medical morality was also discussed through the scene where Dr. Rao administers a young boy an injection meant for cattle. He's stuck in a dilemma of rules entangled with the saving of life. Participants had a different viewpoint of what Dr. Rao was ought to do and what he actually did. The role of red-tapism and bureaucracy was also briefly touched upon.
A powerful and poignant scene of the movie - where the Sarpanch bifurcates the queue outside the Society into Harijans and non-Harijans. This system was rampant even in independent India and a major source for violation, domination and atrocities.
Fortunately and unfortunately both, the participants concluded that this film which was released in 1976 still remains relevant even today after 45 years ( 2021 ) with all the issues that it highlights - Caste, Gender, Poverty, Capitalism versus Socialism, Collective Action and Leadership, etc.
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Report drafted by
* Vedanti Patil ( FYBA )
* Aniruddha Phadke ( TYBA Political Science ).
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