The mop of dark curly hair haloing Anand (Bhushaan Manoj), the protagonist of the Indian filmmaker Rohan Parashuram Kanawade’s gently rendered debut feature “Cactus Pears,” is such an integral element of his appearance that when he shaves it off toward the end of the film, he could be a different person. The physical transformation mirrors a subtler evolution occurring within Anand. Shedding the weight of his curls, he simultaneously casts off cultural pressures in his village community.
Subdued and taciturn, Anand has returned to his home village from Mumbai for his father’s funeral rites, a 10-day ordinance governed by strict rules for mourners. Over the span, Anand reconnects with Balya (Suraaj Suman), a childhood friend who tends a farm. Both of the men are gay and closeted, and much of Kanawade’s film is composed of static long takes tracing the pair’s slow-burning journey to intimacy.
“Cactus Pears,” which Kanawade based on his own experiences, conveys the burdens confronting the men while circumventing clichés of the covert queer romantic drama. Although Anand’s extended family repeatedly urges him to find a wife, the film avoids the trope of the domineering parent; his mother, Suman (Jayshri Jagtap), is aware of his sexual orientation and supports of his life choices. And while the film centers on the comfort Anand finds with Balya and vice versa, it is also an elegantly reserved study of Anand’s grief, finding a rhythm in its scenes of ritual that allows us to ache alongside.
Cactus Pears Not rated. In Marathi, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 52 minutes. In theaters.
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