In 1976, milk producers turned into film producers with Shyam Benegal's Manthan. Benegal's film traced the journey of Amul, the baby steps taken to make baby formula. The talent on the film included Vijay Tendulkar as screenwriter, Govind Nihalani as cinematographer, Vanraj Bhatia as music director, and Smita Patil, Naseeruddin Shah, Girish Karnad and Amrish Puri as actors. Their collective salaries were paid for by Gujarat's dairy collective.

"There was no money to fund it or produce it," says Benegal. "Dr Verghese Kurien, who was the chairman, knew me well because I had made advertising films on Amul's products. A producers' co-operative had never been done anywhere in the world. These were small farmers, with one or two animals, who had come together for Dr Kurien's massive organisation, and turned us into the largest milk-producing country in the world. The formation of such a co-operative was a story that needed to be told."