Mira Nair, Payal Kapadia Are Backing “Cactus Pears” In North American Release

India-West News Desk                                   

NEW YORK, NY  – Mira Nair and Payal Kapadia are joining forces to usher a singular new voice into the global spotlight. Nair will present Rohan Parashuram Kanawade’s “Cactus Pears” for its North American release, while Kapadia lends her public support to a film she has repeatedly described as one that “stays with you long after the lights come up.”

Their endorsement places the Marathi-language feature in the rare company of Indian indies championed by two of the most admired filmmakers working today. Strand Releasing has acquired North American rights.

In a statement, the producers said that having Nair present the film feels like a full-circle affirmation. They noted that her career has consistently shown how the most local of stories can open into universality when told with boldness and honesty. They called her involvement “an honor we never imagined” and a reminder that specificity remains the beating heart of independent cinema.

The film won the top international prize at Sundance earlier this year, continued its run with a slot at New Directors/New Films, then moved through festivals around the world, including SXSW London where it captured the Grand Jury Prize. At the San Francisco International Film Festival it drew sold out houses and strong critical praise.

“Cactus Pears,” which follows a city-bred Anand as he returns to the rugged countryside for the ten-day mourning rites of his father, unfolds as a quiet yet piercing study of grief and unexpected intimacy. Anand, played by Bhushaan Manoj, drifts into an unlikely bond with Balya, a local farmer portrayed by Suraaj Suman, whose unmarried status has become a point of both shame and resistance in his community. What begins in somber ritual gradually ripens into a delicate, deeply felt connection between two men navigating truths that cannot be spoken aloud.

Kapadia, whose “All We Imagine as Light” became one of last year’s most celebrated films, offered her own tribute. She said she was “deeply moved” by the tenderness Kanawade captures, calling the film “an intense and quiet romance” that evokes the impulse “to reach out and hold the hand of a person you love.”

After its New York bow, “Cactus Pears” will arrive in Los Angeles at Laemmle’s Royal Theatre on November 28, followed by openings in Chicago, San Francisco and Seattle.