NewzVille Entertainment Desk
‘Sabar Bonda’ (Cactus Pears), a Marathi Film directed screenplay written by Rohan Parashuram Kanawade got the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize (Dramatic) award at the Sundance Film Festival 2025 (SFF 25), Utah, USA.
It was Kanawade’s directorial debut and coincidentally Marathi film was entered for the first time in the Sundance Festival.
The film is produced by Neeraj Churi, Mohamed Khaki, Kaushik Ray, Hareesh Reddypalli, Naren Chandavarkar, Sidharth Meer.
‘Sabar Bonda’ had its world premiere at the ‘SSF 25’ on 26 January 2025 in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition section.
The film revolves around the lead character 30+ years old Anand (Bhushaan Manoj), who returns to his hometown from the big city after his father’s death. During the 10 days of funeral and death customary, he passionately reconnects to his childhood friend Balya (Suraaj Suman), who is a farmer struggling to stay unmarried. As the mourning ends, forcing his return, Anand has to decide the fate of his relationship.
In a bold conversation session at the SSF 25, director Rohan Parashuram Kanawade shares that Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears) is loosely based on his own life, growing up as gay man in the Mumbai slums. “This was inspired by my experience of grieving for my father in my village in 2016. Before that, for 10 years, I had avoided going to my village because everyone was talking about marriage, and I wanted to avoid that discussion. When my father passed away, I had to go … I couldn’t escape.”
During his 10-day grieving period, Kanawade recalls, “What if I had a friend there who knew about me, and I could sneak out for a while and stay away from this place? I was thinking about escape, and that part stayed with me. Through this film, I can change that experience and make it a warm journey for those characters.”
Appreciating the film, the Jury citation by SSF 25 says “This is the great modern love story. To say it’s an honor to award this tender film is an understatement. We cried, we laughed, and we wished to be loved in the same way. It is exactly what the world needs right now. This authentic point of view opens the door to an intimate language we all understand. We feel the humming heartbeat of the main character’s inner life, and when it bursts, it wraps us with its sweetness. We award the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic to Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears)”.
The beautiful Cinematography and Editing done by Vikas Urs and Anandi Athaley was appreciated on lots of platforms.
Wendy Ide of Screen Daily, Ritesh Mehra of IndieWire and Tatshaam Mukherjee of The Wire, all lauded the efforts put by the debutant director and performance of the artists.
