Parallel cinema maestro Shyam Benegal's acclaimed film Manthan was crowdfunded by half a million small dairy farmers putting in ₹2 each. Nearly a half century later, a newly mastered copy is premiering at Cannes. It tells a fictionalized account of the real-life story of dairy collectivization among poor and exploited small dairy farmers, the story of the famous Amul cooperative.

When the film was released, the small farmers who had coproduced it thronged to watch it in theaters, helping make it a success. Amul, with a membership of 3.6 million small milk producers, is one of India's largest and best known Indian cooperatives. It led to the transformation of India from a milk-deficient nation into the world's largest milk producer. Another coop with an incredible genesis story is Lijjat Papad. (No film about this one AFAIK, sadly.)

These details emerged in 2010, when the Central Bureau of Investigation, India's equivalent of the FBI, was investigating the killings. The CBI charged Shah with kidnapping, extortion and murder. It alleged that the officers who killed Sheikh and his wife were working on Shah's orders... Today, Amit Shah isn't home minister for Gujarat, but all of India. From the heart of power in Delhi, he is in charge of domestic policy, commands the capital city's police force, and oversees the Indian state's intelligence apparatus. He is, simply put, the second-most powerful man in the country. How Modi's right-hand man, Amit Shah, runs India.