This special members-only screening of Cactus Pears will open our South Asian Heritage Month 2026 programme, and your ticket will include a complimentary prickly pear cocktail (alcoholic or non-alcoholic). The film will be followed by an in-person Q&A with director Rohan Kanawade, hosted by Dr Kulraj Phullar.
Event timings:
18:30-19:30 Cocktail hour in the bar
19:30-19:40 Intro by Dr Kulraj Phullar
19:40-21:35 Screening of Cactus Pears
21:35-22:05 Q&A with director Rohan Kanawade
Tickets are £17 each, and include both a prickly pear cocktail and an allocated seat for the screening and Q&A. They're restricted to 2 per member, meaning you can bring a guest along, even if they're not a member.
About the film:
Set in rural Maharashtra, Cactus Pears (Sabar Bonda) follows Anand (Bhushaan Manoj), a Mumbai call-centre worker who returns to his ancestral village to observe the ten-day mourning ritual following his father’s death. While navigating the pressures of family expectations and marriage, he reconnects with Balya (Suraaj Suman), a childhood friend facing similar struggles. Over the course of the mourning period, their bond deepens into a tender and intimate relationship, creating a quiet exploration of grief, identity and queer love within a traditional rural community.
Language: Marathi with English Subtitles.
Sundance Film Festival 2025 - Winner Grand Jury Prize: World Cinema - Dramatic
SXSW London 2025 - Winner Best Film: Feature Film Competition
About Dr Kulraj Phullar:
Dr Kulraj Phullar is a London-based Film Studies teacher and researcher. His interests include classic Hollywood cinema, British colonial and diasporic cinemas, and Indian cinemas. He is currently a Visiting Tutor at the National Film and Television School.
