Ripe Fruits: Kanawade Taps the Bittersweet Rind of Going Home Again

While there’s been an uptick in contemporary LGBTQ+ films from India over the past two decades, many have maintained a low international profile with the exception of a few select titles. Auteur fare, such as Deepa Mehta’s exceptional 1996 title Fire, remains nearly unrivaled in its bravura, while the 2020 restoration of India’s first queer film, Badnam Basti (1971), foments the ongoing recuperative legacy of watershed moments. With his semi-autobiographical narrative debut, Cactus Pears, Rohan Parashuram Kanawade arrives with a subtle and profound new entry in queer independent Indian cinema, girded by the validation of high profile film festival circuit veneration.…...