Manthan

Shyam Benegal’s masterpiece relates the story of a young urban group headed by a veterinary doctor sent to a poor village to start a milk cooperative. As the villagers try to work together, old and new hostilities begin to surface. In a remarkable departure from normal funding strategies, 500,000 Gujarati farmers donated few rupees each to create the film. The first communally financed film in India, Manthan created a pattern later replicated by other film projects.