Overlooked Indian Drama ‘Pyre’ Wins Global Acclaim After 18 Festival Awards

Despite its stark setting and heavy themes, Pyre is infused with a gentle humour. The central couple are utterly charming; like many long-married partners, they appear to have elevated bickering into a love language.

Director Kapri, a native of Uttarakhand, conceived the film in 2018 after meeting an 84-year-old man in Munsiyari, a picturesque hill town in the region. “I visited him after seeing his photo in a Facebook post,” Kapri recalled. “The wrinkles on his face fascinated me; his face was unique.”

Kapri asked the man and his wife about their greatest fear. “He said, ‘My biggest worry is, if I die first, who is going to take care of her?’ And she said, ‘He doesn’t know how to cook. So if I die first, I don’t know who is going to cook food for him.’ That was so heartwarming for me.”

Kapri initially attempted to film the real-life couple but abandoned the approach after a week when it proved unworkable. He then approached acclaimed actors Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah—a real-life couple—for the lead roles. While Shah loved the script, he felt that neither he nor Pathak Shah belonged to the region and would struggle to do justice to the characters.

Kapri ultimately cast his own father’s younger brother, a retired army soldier with an interest in acting, as Padam Singh. He found his Tulsi in a neighbouring village: Heera Devi, an elderly widow who had single-handedly raised her children through years of farming, cutting grass, and tending to her buffalo.

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