“Cactus Pears” (Sabar Bonda), the Marathi-language drama that made historical past at Sundance as the primary Indian fiction characteristic to win the World Cinema Dramatic grand jury prize, will open in U.Okay. and Eire cinemas on June 19, in a launch led by producers Neeraj Churi of Lotus Visible Productions and Kaushik Ray of Taran Tantra Telefilms. The movie is presented by Mira Nair.
Written and directed by Rohan Parashuram Kanawade, the movie facilities on a younger man from Mumbai who travels again to his household’s village in rural Maharashtra after his father dies, sure by custom to look at a 10-day mourning interval. Amid stress from family members about marriage and his future, he grows shut once more to a pal from childhood, and the 2 males discover their approach towards an intimate connection.
The movie has screened at greater than 85 festivals throughout some 40 international locations since its Sundance breakthrough, choosing up the jury prize at the inaugural SXSW London in 2025. It has already performed theatrically in India, the U.S., Spain, Austria, Switzerland and Germany.
Reviewing the film for Variety, Siddhant Adlakha wrote: “A rural homosexual story that begins in a state of mourning and melancholy, it will definitely takes on radiant type, with emotional complexities born out of characters strolling across the reality, if solely as a result of euphemisms are the one language they’ve.”
To help the U.Okay. rollout, Kanawade will embark on a 10-day nationwide Q&A tour starting June 16 at BFI Southbank in London. Theatrical bookings and advertising outreach shall be dealt with by Tejinder Jouhal and Krushil Patel, whereas Tony Gill’s range PR and advertising company Media Home International will lead the publicity marketing campaign, with producer and publicist Dheeraj Agnihotri in an advisory position.
“Seeing ‘Cactus Pears’ arrive in U.Okay. cinemas looks like a full circle second,” Kanawade stated. “When my producer Neeraj and I first got down to convey this movie to life, our journey started on the Movie London manufacturing finance market in 2021, now to return with a theatrical launch right here is extremely significant. I’m tremendous excited to share the movie with U.Okay. audiences and to interact with them in individual. Whereas the story is profoundly private, I imagine its emotional core is common and I hope it resonates on a human stage with everybody who experiences it.”
Churi and Ray stated in a joint assertion: “We’re deeply proud to convey ‘Cactus Pears’ to U.Okay. cinemas, after profitable runs in India and the U.S. Its launch right here continues its journey of amplifying queer South Asian tales globally with honesty and tenderness. At a time when genuine illustration is extra important than ever, ‘Cactus Pears’ stands as a testomony to voices which have too usually been pushed to the margins – voices we’re dedicated to championing.”
Gill, who labored on the movie’s publicity at SXSW London, stated: “‘Cactus Pears’ is a really distinctive movie that carves its personal area and identification in modern queer cinema, whereas concurrently common in its themes and messages. The movie has already garnered lots of love and we’re enthusiastic about additional galvanizing this plaudit as this actually particular movie involves U.Okay. cinemas.”
“It’s a uncommon deal with when audiences go away a movie stuffed with heat and hope for the potential of a greater future,” Jouhal added. “‘Cactus Pears’ delivers precisely that. ‘Cactus Pears’ is a really distinctive love story that quietly defies conference and represents a progressive microcosm of Indian household life that may resonate deeply with cineastes, South Asian and queer cinema goers.”
“Cactus Pears” was developed by way of the Venice Biennale Faculty Cinema program and obtained help from the NFDC Marathi Script Camp, the Movie Bazaar Co-Manufacturing Market and the Venice Hole Financing Market. The movie is produced by Churi, Mohamed Khaki, Ray, Naren Chandavarkar, Sidharth Meer and Hareesh Reddypalli, with co-producers Jim Sarbh, Neha Kaul and Rajesh Parwatkar.
