18 Awards, Two Years Without a Distributor: How 'Pyre' Finally Reached India

Vinod Kapri's film Pyre won 18 festival awards, spent two years without a distributor, and opened on just 70 screens in India on 30 October. It is now a word-of-mouth hit, wowing critics and audiences across the country with its story of an elderly couple's love and loneliness in the Himalayas.

The 111-minute film, directed by the television journalist-turned-filmmaker, is set in the mountains of Uttarakhand, a state where outmigration has left hundreds of picturesque hamlets abandoned and turned them into ghost villages. It also reflects on climate change, which has made the region's weather increasingly harsh.

What is the story at the film's centre?

Kapri says his film remains focused on the "soulful love story of the ageing couple in their last days". The protagonists are Padam Singh, played by Kapri's uncle of the same name, and Tulsi, played by Heera Devi. Locally they are called Bubu and Aama — grandfather and grandmother.

"They have shared a life together for 65 years and, for the last 28 years, they've been waiting for their son, Hariya, who's gone to Mumbai in search of work, to come back," Kapri tells the BBC. "It's a story of companionship, of loneliness and of waiting."

Their wait takes on urgency when a letter arrives from Hariya setting a date for his visit. As the couple count down the days, the handful of villagers around them leave one by one. With no one left to call for help, Padam Singh builds two funeral pyres side by side outside his door — one for his wife and one for himself.

The leads had never faced a camera before. Heera Devi is an elderly widow who raised her children through years of farming, cutting grass and tending buffalo. Padam Singh, Kapri's father's younger brother, is a retired army soldier. Their performances have drawn praise from Bollywood figures including Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher.

How did the film get made?

Kapri, who is from Uttarakhand, got the idea in 2018 after meeting an 84-year-old man in Munsiyari, a scenic hill town. "I visited him after seeing his photo in a Facebook post. The wrinkles on his face really fascinated me. His face was unique."

He asked the man and his wife about their biggest worry. "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.' That was so heartwarming for me."

Kapri first tried filming the real couple, then abandoned the idea after a week. He approached Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak, a couple themselves. Shah loved the script but felt the two did not belong to the region and would struggle to do justice to the characters. Kapri then found his leads within his own family and in another village.

What does the delayed release change?

Since 2024, Pyre has screened at some of the world's biggest festivals, winning 18 awards, including three for best feature and 12 audience-choice best film prizes. Even so, streaming platforms passed on it. It reached cinemas only when a producer friend funded a theatrical release.

On social media, many Indians have shared videos of audiences leaving theatres in tears. At screenings, Padam Singh and Heera Devi have met people wanting to touch their feet and hug them, many saying the film reminded them of their own parents and grandparents waiting in villages, towns and cities.

"We felt immense joy and happiness. We've received so much love and inspiration — something we had never imagined," says Padam Singh. His best moment came when he met Naseeruddin Shah in Mumbai. "He hugged me. He said, 'Bubu, the role you have performed, I wouldn't be able to pull off even in seven lifetimes.'"

Heera Devi says the film resonates "because in reality, our village is just like this". "The loneliness is simply unbearable," she says. Padam Singh has a message for the young: "They must not abandon their motherland, the land where they were born. I also appeal to the government to bring education and employment to where people are — so that they don't have to wander away."