After 18 international awards, Vinod Kapri's Pyre finally gets India release date

Vinod Kapri's Pyre will release in cinemas across India in October. The film brings an intimate Kumaon story of ageing, migration and family separation to theatres.

In Short

• Director Vinod Kapri’s Pyre to release in India on October 23
• Film stars non-actors Padam Singh Kapri and Heera Devi as elderly couple
• Set in Kumaon Himalayas, explores family separation due to migration

Director Vinod Kapri’s Pyre finally has a release date. The National Award-winning filmmaker’s film, which follows an elderly couple in the Kumaon Himalayas, will arrive in cinemas across India on October 23. Distributed by Cinepolis, the film has already travelled through the international festival circuit, picking up several awards along the way.

What makes Pyre especially intriguing is the couple at its centre. Padam Singh Kapri, 80, and Heera Devi, 70, had never faced a camera before this film. They play an ageing couple whose lives have narrowed to their home, their memories and each other as their children move away in search of better opportunities.

Shot entirely in Uttarakhand, Pyre is set in a remote village in the Kumaon region. The film looks at what happens to families when migration slowly pulls them apart, leaving older parents behind while their children build lives elsewhere.

But Kapri’s film isn’t only about loneliness or the pain of separation. At its heart is the relationship between two people who have spent a lifetime together.

That was also why Kapri chose two people who had actually lived through much of the life he wanted to capture on screen. “Pyre is ultimately a film about love, between two people who have spent their lives together, and between parents and their children,” Kapri said in a statement.

“I wanted to tell this story through two people who had lived that life themselves. Finding Padam Singh ji and Heera Devi ji was extraordinary. Their relationship, silences and emotions brought a truth to the screen that conventional actors could never have recreated,” he added.

All about Pyre - cast, crew and the journey

Padam Singh Kapri is a retired Army man, while Heera Devi is a homemaker, widow and former dancer. Neither had acted on screen before taking on the roles.

In the film, Padam Singh plays Padam Singh and Heera Devi plays Tulsi. Their real-life backgrounds became part of what Kapri wanted from the performances - something lived-in rather than performed.

The film’s setting adds to that feeling. Instead of using the Himalayas merely as a sweeping backdrop, Pyre places its characters within a remote community where migration has changed the shape of family life.

The film has already had quite a journey before its Indian theatrical release. Pyre premiered at the 28th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, where it won the POFF Best Film Audience Award. It later travelled to festivals including the So Paulo International Film Festival, Cambridge Film Festival, Bath Film Festival, Fajr International Film Festival and the International Film Festival of Kerala.

According to the makers, the film has won 18 international awards, including 15 Best Film awards. Kapri has also received Best Director honours in Serbia and Boston, while the film has been recognised for its music, cinematography and sound.

The film also brings together some familiar names behind the scenes.

Mychael Danna, known for composing films such as Life of Pi, Monsoon Wedding, Little Miss Sunshine and Moneyball, has composed the music. Gulzar has written the lyrics.

- Ends