Sundance 2025 | India’s ‘Sabar Bonda’ wins World Cinema Grand Jury Prize

A still from Sabar Bonda
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Marathi filmmaker Rohan Parashuram Kanawade’s Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears) has won the Grand Jury Prize under the World Cinema: Dramatic category at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. The queer drama was the only Indian title competing at the festival this year.
The announcement was made by Sundance on its official website and social media handles.

Said to be a poignant tale of love and loss, Sabar Bonda stars Bhushaan Manoj and Suraaj Suman. Set in a Maharashtrian village, the film follows the story of Anand, a city-bred 30-something man who returns to his ancestral village to mourn the loss of his father. There, a romance develops between Anand and his school friend.
“Anand, a 30-something city dweller compelled to spend a 10-day mourning period for his father in the rugged countryside of western India, tenderly bonds with a local farmer struggling to stay unmarried. As the mourning ends, forcing his return, Anand must decide the fate of his relationship born under duress,” reads the official synopsis.
A co-production between India, the UK and Canada, Sabar Bonda continues India’s spectacular streak at the Sundance Film Festival. Last year, two Indian co-productions bagged awards — Shuchi Talati’s Girls Will Be Girls, the debut production of actor-couple Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal, won the Audience Award for World Cinema Dramatic Competition, while its lead actor Preeti Panigrahi won the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting; Nocturnes, directed by Anirban Dutta, won the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Craft.
Previously, Writing with Fire, All That Breathes, and Against The Tide won awards at Sundance in 2021, 2022, and 2023, respectively.
Published – February 01, 2025 11:00 am IST
Post Comment