Sundance 2025: Marathi film Sabar Bonda becomes only Indian film to get selected
Still from Sabar Bonda
Indian film Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears) has been selected officially for the Sundance Film Festival 2025. It is the only Indian feature film to find a mention at the festival. It is a Marathi-language film, marking a groundbreaking moment for Indian cinema on the global stage.
Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears) is directed by Rohan Parashuram Kanawade. It is the first-ever Marathi language feature to premiere at the prestigious festival. Sabar Bonda will compete in the Sundance Film Festival’s World Cinema Dramatic Competition this year.
Sabar Bonda to compete at Sundance 2025
The film offers a tender yet powerful exploration of identity, familial expectations, and unconventional love. The plot of the film centers around Anand, a city-dweller grappling with personal loss and familial pressures, as he embarks on a 10-day mourning ritual in his ancestral village. Amid the rugged beauty of western India, he finds solace and connection with Balya, a childhood friend facing similar societal expectations.
The film boasts of an interesting cast including Bhushaan Manoj, Suraaj Suman, and Jayshri Jagtap.
The film has been developed under the Venice Biennale College Cinema 2022-2023 and NFDC Marathi script camp and presented at global platforms like the Film London Production Finance Market, NFDC Marathi Script Camp, Film Bazaar Co-Production Market, Venice Gap Financing Market, and Goes to Cannes, Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears).
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It is produced by Neeraj Churi (UK), Mohamed Khaki (Canada), Kaushik Ray (UK), Naren Chandavarkar (India), Sidharth Meer (India), and Hareesh Reddypalli (India), with co-producer, acclaimed actor Jim Sarbh and associate producer Rajesh Parwatkar.
On the achievement, writer-director Rohan Parashuram Kanawade said, "Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears)" is a highly personal film. It reimagines the grief period I experienced in my ancestral village following my father's death, during which I felt enormous pressure to comply with cultural expectations, including marriage. This film transforms that moment of loss and confinement into a delicate romance that celebrates my experiences as well as my parents' love, who accepted my sexuality with grace and wisdom. Bringing this extremely personal narrative to life and receiving recognition at Sundance is a dream come true. I'm excited to share it with global audiences and commemorate Marathi cinema's historic presence at the festival."
Last year, we had two Indian films compete at the Sundance Film Festival– Shuchi Talati’s Girls Will Be Girls and Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light.
