Cactus Pears

When his father dies, Anand returns from Mumbai to his rugged western Indian hometown to mourn. Surrounded by demanding relatives and frustrated by stifling rituals, Anand finds respite from the claustrophobia when he reconnects with childhood friend Balya. In a conservative society that struggles to accept these men’s authentic selves, their feelings deepen, with the pair forming a tender relationship that blossoms like vivid cactus pears in the dusty desert. Writer/director Rohan Parashuram Kanawade makes an auspicious feature debut with this erotic drama, deftly situating this tale of queer love—stories so often told within the boundaries of higher caste and class—in everyday rural India and lower middle-class Mumbai. —Bedatri Choudhury