In 1975, half a million dairy farmers in Gujarat donated two rupees each to help make a movie on their lives. The film was called Manthan and it was directed by Shyam Benegal. When a young Benegal went to Verghese Kurien with the idea of The Churning Kuien said his co-operative organisation is not in the business of funding Hindi movies. But Shyam Benegal convinced Kurien that his film would convert more farmers outside of Gujarat to join the milk cooperative movement and make his co-operative a bigger force. But Kurien was hesitant and so the duo came up with the idea of crowdfunding the film, requesting a Rs.2 donation from each of the 500,000 milk farmers. The farmers were excited that a Hindi film was being made on their lives and agreed.
Manthan raised Rs.10 lacs in less than a week and Benegal completed the film in 45 days with Naseerudin Shah, Smita Patil, Girish Karnad and Amrish Puri, who lived in the villages of Gujarat like commoners. When Manthan was released, 500,000 farmers and their families hired buses to go and watch the film in theatres and Kurien distributed the film for free to teach more farmers about starting cooperatives. He sent his teams with the movie reels and projectors to villages across India.
India today has 18 million farmers associated with milk cooperatives, supporting over 80 million rural households with jobs and incomes. Manthan was not just a film, but a movement and Benegal not just a filmmaker but a revolutionary.