Written and directed by Rohan Kanawade, Anand, a 30-something city dweller compelled to spend a 10-day mourning period for his father in the rugged countryside of western India, tenderly bonds with a local farmer struggling to stay unmarried. Starring: Bhushaan Manoj, Suraaj Suman, Jayshri Jagtap, Dhananjay Jambar, Sandhya Pawase, Hemant Kadam, Vidhya Joshi and Ram Daund.
Immediately as Cactus Pears opens, you’re hit with the utterly impressive aesthetic from cinematographer Vikas Urs. It’s beautifully textured, it has a tenderness and warmth which sets the tone perfectly and sees it through until the very end. It matches the story and Rohan Kanawade’s direction to a tee, he creates such a gentle atmosphere blending grief with a blossoming romance with the utmost sensitivity. They’re two very difficult topics to capture within the same film but Kanawade makes it seem easy.
Not only is Cactus Pears gorgeous to look at, Kanawade’s writing is equally as stunning. The story builds in the most wonderfully organic and thoughtful manner. The atmosphere that he creates is enveloping, it’s unexpected to find a story exploring the rigidity and responsibility of grief in India to be so inviting. A lot of that comes from the creation of Anand (Bhushaan Manoj), he’s such a sweet character, he’s polite and caring, and while he wants to do best by his family, will also not sit and listen to others tell him how he should live his life. The foundation of the film explores seeking genuine companionship and comfort, it’s humble and quietly affectionate.
The way that the cast brings those elements to life with their performances is absolute perfection. Starting with Bhushaan Manoj who arguably gives a performance that would be a career highlight for any actor, and it’s remarkably his only credit to date. It’s difficult to do true justice to the emotional weight and complexity to his performance, without simply watching it for yourself. A performance that only improves further when he’s opposite Suraaj Suman as Balya, also giving his first performance in a feature. It’s beyond impressive what these two achieve for their first film, not to mention that it’s also Kanawade’s debut feature.
Watching Manoj and Suman seek out that companionship, each of their characters looking for conversation and connection over sex and typical romance is sincerely lovely. Their chemistry is ridiculously natural, even from the very start, there’s hints of flirtation but it’s extremely wholesome. The relationship with Anand and his family is much more complicated but seeing the evolution of his connection with his mother Suman (Jayshri Jagtap) is very touching. Jagtap gives a wonderful performance to capture both Suman’s grief and also her deep desire for her son to be happy.
Cactus Pears impressively manages to capture the strictly traditional society found in western India, the unwavering rules to grief, and its waves of emotion, while also creating a genuine romance. It’s such an unusual pairing but Rohan Kanawade achieves it with a level of tenderness that’s almost heartrending. The only very minimal weakness is its tendency to cut to black in a jarring fashion. The performances are exceptional, the cinematography is beautiful, the writing and direction are so in sync to create a quietly compelling and moving atmosphere. It’s incredibly earnest and organic, and hard to believe that it’s a debut feature and debut performances from Bhushaan Manoj and Suraaj Suman when they’re all so impressive.
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