num_pages: 99
description: In The Churning (Manthan), Shyam Benegal, one of India's major directors, tackles a problem that has rarely been touched in Indian cinema-the process through which a tradition-bound community, where vested interests uphold the tradition, learns to redefine the relations of production and adopt new initiatives. Set in contemporary India, it brings a group of urban social workers to a village where they would like the milk producers to organize themselves into a co-operative. Traditions of exploitation and unquestioning submission to the system would not let the villagers come together and take a stand. The city group has its own equally inhibitory limitations. But as the latter retreat under pressure, the former discover their potential. While Benegal's social analysis is complex an uncompromising, his style is smooth and simple, and even poetic; and, as it is usual with him, woman plays a central role in the slow unfolding of the social phenomena. With several awards to its credit, The Churning is considered by many to be Benegal's most representative work.The script, as it appears in print, is a reconstruction and translation based on a shot-by-shot viewing of the film.
language: English
title: Shyam Benegal's the Churning: Manthan: Screenplay
titlecomplete: Shyam Benegal's the Churning: Manthan: Screenplay
ratings_count: 1
publisher: Seagull Books