Cactus Pears (Sabar Bonda in Marathi) is a 2025 romantic drama film written and directed by Rohan Parashuram Kanawade, in his feature directorial debut. It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2025, where it won the Grand Jury Prize, and was given a limited UK release on 19 June.

Following the death of his father, Anand (Bhushaan Manoj) and his mother Suman (Jayshri Jagtap) return to their hometown with his body. They are expected to stay for the full 10-day mourning period, following a complex series of societal rules and undertaking a number of traditional rituals.

Anand is a 30-year-old call-centre worker living as a gay man in Mumbai. Whilst this is possible in the city, he cannot own this openly in rural Maharashtra, in the tiny village from which his family originate. Consequently, he has to suffer a continual barrage of questions from his relatives as to why he has not yet found a wife. However, he finds a kindred spirit in his childhood friend Balya (Suraaj Suman) and together they embark on a very gentle love affair away from the prying eyes of the villagers.

This is a very well-observed piece of writing, probing Anand’s grief for his father, and contrasting it with his initial discomfort in the rituals he must undertake, but with which he gradually comes to terms. The pace is gentle throughout: we accompany Anand’s through his grief for his father, his loving relationship with his mother and his blossoming love for Balya.

His father’s dying words were that he wished his wife to cook a ‘really nice’ meal for Anand, and the poignancy of this request is revealed in a later scene in which Anand’s maternal grandfather tells Amand about why his father had chosen to marry the ‘lowly and uneducated’ Suman in the first place.

Cactus Pears is a very gentle tale of grief and love. It is an extremely accomplished directorial debut from Kanawade and, if you get the opportunity in the limited number of screenings remaining, I would strongly recommend it.