 |
| Suraaj Suman and Bhushaan Manoj in Cactus Pears |
Cast: Bhushaan Manoj, Suraaj Suman, Jayshri Jagrap. Screenplay: Rohan Kanawade. Cinematography: Vikas Urs. Production design: Tejashree Kapadne. Film editing: Anadi Athaley.
Tradition inevitably gives way to change, but it's the fight between them that animates our fictions. It falls to Anand (Bhushaan Manoj) to carry the burden of change in Rohan Kanadade's Cactus Pears, his debut feature. Anand is comfortably employed in Mumbai when his father dies, which necessitates a trip into the past, to the village where he grew up, for the ten-day funeral observances. Anand is reluctant to spend the whole ten days there. At 30, he knows that he'll be under constant pressure to explain why he's not married. At one point in the ceremonies, there's even discussion about whether, as an unmarried man, he's eligible to light his father's funeral pyre. But Anand is gay, a fact he feels compelled to hide from the villagers, if only to spare the embarrassment to his mother (Jayshri Jagtap), who already knows. During their stay, Anand meets Balya (Suraaj Suman), a friend from boyhood who knows Anand's secret because he's also gay. The film surveys the multiple tensions that arise as a new intimacy develops between Anand and Balya amid the funereal solemnity and the complex rituals and taboos of community and religion. Cactus Pears is a finely observed, refreshingly new take on a familiar story.
