Making of Manthan: Shyam Benegal forced Naseeruddin Shah, Smita Patil, and Amrish Puri to wear the same attire for forty-five days in sweltering weather

During the 40-45 days of filming "Manthan" on location in the little Gujarati village of Sanganva, Shyam Benegal instructed his actors to dress alike. "I told Naseer (Naseeruddin Shah), Smita (Patil), Girish (Karnad), Amrish (Puri), and the others to not change, says Benegal, 'cause people in that very dry area went for days without bathing because they had so little water!"The 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, which takes place from May 14–25, has a poetically appropriate film, "Manthan." The film has been selected as one of a number of highly anticipated films in various sections of the festival; FTII alum Payal Kapadia's "All We Imagine As Light" enters the Competition section 30 years after Shaji N Karun's "Swaham." Overall, it's looking like a full Indian summer at the Croisette.Take a brief peek at the other entries from India. Shahana Goswami stars in Sandhya Suri's "Santosh," which is in Un Certain Regard.

The film "Sister Midnight" by Karan Kandhari, starring Radhika Apte, is part of the Director's Fortnight, which takes place in tandem with the festival. Another FTII project, the short film "Sunflowers Were The First To Know" by Chidananda Naik, is competing in the La Cinef competition. Kapadia's fellow FTII graduate, Maisam Ali, and Harish Khanna have their feature "In Retreat" included in the Cannes sidebar ACID (Association for the Diffusion of Independent Cinema) program. Additionally, "The Shameless," a film directed by Konstantin Bojanov of Bulgaria and set in India, has been scheduled in the Un Certain Regard. Critics' Week features the short "Sauna Day," which was directed by Tushar Prakash and Anna Hints.Superb cinematographer Santosh Sivan is receiving the Pierre Angenieux prize outside of the screenings. He's going to do a master class as well. This time, there will undoubtedly be more talented people walking the red carpet for their films and representing independent Indian cinema as a whole, rather than just serving as brand ambassadors for mainstream Bollywood. Additionally, it's about time.Benegal and Vijay Tendulkar wrote the 1976 movie, which followed two documentaries on the same topic. "Dr. Kurien believed that the Amul story and the amazing work done locally by the farmers' cooperative, and that's how 'Manthan' was made," according to Benegal (89). It was India's 1977 Oscar submission and took home National Awards for Best Feature Film and Best Screenplay (for Vijay Tendulkar).