Vinod Kapri's 'Pyre' to open 2025 Bengaluru Film Festival

New Delhi: National Award-winning filmmaker Vinod Kapri's movie "Pyre" will serve as the opening film at the 16th Bengaluru International Film Festival.

The Uttarakhand-set film, billed as a melancholic ballad of an undying love in a dying land, had its world premiere at the 2024 Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award.

"We are so overwhelmed. Bengaluru is one of the most prestigious film festivals of India. So we are quite happy, and we feel it's an honour for the film and its 80-year-old non-actors," Kapri, who won a National Award for his 2014 documentary "Can't Take This Shit Anymore", told PTI.

The Hindi film is inspired by a true story of an elderly couple that Kapri met in 2017 in Munsyari, a village affected by migration in Uttarakhand. The couple’s bond left a deep impact on him, prompting him to make “Pyre”.

For “Pyre”, Vinod Kapri cast two local residents, Padam Singh, a retired Indian Army soldier, and Hira Devi, a farmer, neither of whom had ever acted in a film before. Both hail from Berinag Tehsil in Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district.

The 52-year-old filmmaker said he had initially approached veteran actor-couple Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah for the film.

"When I narrated the story to them, they said they were doing it. But while we were discussing the story and the treatment, Naseer sir said, 'Vinod, do you really think that we will fit in this set of things? Do you really think that we will be able to do justice to this story?" "And then I thought Naseer sir was right. I think I should cast local people, I should cast the people who haven't seen a camera," Kapri said.

Kapri said he wants "Pyre" to go to various film festivals around the world before releasing in India.

"We are targeting this year's release, but we are getting invitations from international festivals. So this year the film is going to travel the world. Once the circuit is complete, we will release it," he says.

Legendary Indian lyricist Gulzar also contributed to the film by penning a song.

Kapri and his wife, Sakshi Joshi, have produced the movie independently through Bhagirathi Films.

The 2025 edition of Bengaluru Film Festival will be held from March 1 to 8.