There are moments in history when a language, a culture, or an art form transcends the boundaries it once knew, finding itself at the crossroads of global recognition. For Marathi cinema, that moment has arrived. Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears) is the first-ever Marathi language feature to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. It’s also the only feature from South Asia to compete in the 2025 edition. This is a seismic shift in the narrative of Indian regional cinema on the world stage.

To understand the gravity of Sabar Bonda’s journey, we must first understand the dichotomy of Indian cinema. For decades, Bollywood has been the global face of Indian storytelling. Regional films, despite their richness, were watched only within state lines, seldom crossing into broader consciousness. And yet, within these regional films told stories that resisted the glamour of mainstream cinema — stories of authenticity, rooted in dialects, traditions, and lives that Bollywood never captured.

Sabar Bonda, directed by Rohan Parashuram Kanawade, is a triumph of this act. It takes a tale of love, grief, and identity, and dares to place it in front of an audience unaccustomed to the Marathi language. It challenges the assumptions of who Indian films speak for and who they speak to.

The film’s narrative follows Anand, a city-dweller burdened by personal loss, who returns to his ancestral village for a 10-day mourning ritual. There, he reconnects with Balya, a childhood friend navigating his own battles. The story is, on the surface, an exploration of grief and tradition. But beneath, it blossoms into a tender romance.

Kanawade shares that the film reimagines the period of mourning he experienced after his father’s death. It’s catharsis, a transmutation of personal pain into art. By weaving his queerness into a tale steeped in tradition, he creates a cinematic language that is both intimate and expansive.

For Marathi cinema, Sabar Bonda represents a moment of reckoning. Historically, the industry has been overshadowed by its peers. Films like Sairat and The Disciple broke through to national and international acclaim, but the industry’s representation at a festival as iconic as Sundance remained a distant dream. Until now.

Sabar Bonda is not just a Marathi film at Sundance. It is the Marathi film at Sundance. It’ll be presented in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition — one of the most prestigious categories at the festival. It tells the world that regional cinema is no longer the 'other' voice of India but a central force driving its artistic evolution.

The journey of the film from script to Sundance hasn’t been quick or easy. Developed through the Venice Biennale College Cinema, presented at Film Bazaar and Goes to Cannes, and supported by producers spanning three continents, it embodies a rare alchemy of local storytelling and international vision. Its success is as much a product of Marathi tenacity as it is of global collaboration.

Sabar Bonda is an emphatic statement about the future of Indian storytelling. It tells us that the stories that resonate most are not the loudest, but the most honest. It’s a reminder that regional cinema thrives by leaning into its own specificity; by mining the depths of its culture and identity.

As Sabar Bonda prepares for its premiere at Park City, it carries with it the weight of an entire industry’s hopes. It also carries something more intangible: the promise of change. It's the promise that Indian regional cinema can redefine what it means to be a global storyteller. Like the cactus pear itself, Sabar Bonda is spiky, resilient, and quietly beautiful. And like the fruit it’s named after, its sweetness lies within, waiting to be discovered. At Sundance, the world will finally have that chance.

Follow Sabar Bonda's official page here.

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