‘Pyre’ Wins Audience Award at London, Birmingham Indian Film Festivals

Vinod Kapri’s “Pyre,” an intimate drama about an elderly couple struggling to survive in the remote Indian Himalayas, has captured the best film audience award at both the London Indian Film Festival and Birmingham Indian Film Festival, which concluded this week at BFI Southbank and Midlands Arts Centre respectively.

The victory marks another audience award for “Pyre” following its earlier triumph at Estonia’s Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in 2024.

The film centers on aging couple Padam and Tulsi, whose remote Himalayan village has become increasingly desolate as families migrate to cities, leaving the pair to wonder who will perform their last rites. Their world shifts dramatically when they receive an unexpected letter from their estranged son after 30 years of silence, providing them with renewed hope and the will to continue.

The production features non-professional actors from the Himalayas, including 80-year-old Padam Singh and 70-year-old Heera Devi, lending authentic performances to Kapri’s intimate portrait of rural displacement and enduring love.

Behind the camera, “Pyre” boasts an international creative team including Academy Award-winning composer Mychael Danna, who collaborated with Amritha Vaaj on the score. German editor Patricia Rommel worked alongside Subhojit Singa on the edit, while acclaimed lyricist Gulzar penned the film’s songs. Kapri produced the feature with Sakshi Joshi.

“Getting the best film audience award at the prestigious London Indian film festival and Birmingham Indian film festivals is such an amazing news,” Kapri said. “This is the third best film audience award for ‘Pyre’ in the last eight months and second in just five days. We are so happy that a very small film with 70 and 80 year old non actors, Aama [Devi] and Bubu [Singh] is getting so much love from international audiences. This is such a huge honor to our lead actors – common…