The haunted village of Uttarakhand and the story of two elderly people, a unique film that is attracting the attention of the world.

Hearing and watching about ‘Pyre’, many memorable films from the history of Indian cinema come to mind. The first name that comes to mind is Satyajit Ray’s film ‘Pather Panchali’ and then Mira Nair’s ‘Salaam Bombay!’ Then, Reema Das’s ‘Village Rockstar’, which came a few years ago, also comes to mind. All this because no professional actor has worked in this unique love story of two 80-year-old elders set in the backdrop of the Himalayas. The two elders whom writer-director Vinod Kapri cast in this film, I had never seen a camera or a film before in my life. As of now, it will have its world premiere at Europe’s prestigious 28th Tallin Black Nights International Film Festival on November 19. This is the only Indian film selected in this festival.

A haunted village and two old men waiting for death

Vinod Kapri, who has been in the media for a long time, has made films on very different subjects. The film is inspired by the true story of an elderly couple in Uttarakhand, set in a village abandoned by the ongoing exodus – also known as a ghost village. Whom Vinod met in a village in Munsiyari in 2017. The love for each other of this elderly couple awaiting death left such a deep impression in Vinod’s heart that he/she decided to make this film.

This is how the idea of ​​making a film on this interesting story came about.

There is also an interesting story of how the idea of ​​’Pyre’ came about. Co-producer of this film and well-known writer Ashok Pandey tells that Govind river used to flow below Munsyari. There is another mountain in front of him/her. Munshiyari is visible from there. There were no roads there till two-three years before Covid. That means the part on the other side was completely untouched by the changing world, even though they were watching the changing world on the other side of the river.

When the road opened, Ashok went to that side from Munsiyari just for a stroll. There he/she suddenly found a very old man. he/she had never been to Munsiyari in his/her entire life. Despite living at this time, he/she had no knowledge of this world. When Ashok Pandey asked him/her whose government is at present, he/she said that earlier it was Indira Gandhi’s, now I don’t know if it is anyone else’s. However, during a trekking, Ashok’s friend Vinod Kapri also met that elderly couple and was so impressed that he/she decided to make a film on their life.

Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah were cast

Vinod had earlier selected Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah for this film. Both the actors were ready but Naseeruddin Shah was skeptical that the geographical environment had great importance in this story. The presence of both of them in the story of Himalaya may affect the authenticity of the film. Vinod liked this and he/she again worked on the cast of the film. After wandering for three months in more than two dozen remote villages in the Himalayas, Vinod finally found his/her film’s actors Padam Singh and Tulsi Devi.

Padam Singh was in the Indian Army, now does farming

Both are residents of Berinag tehsil in Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand. Padam Singh was earlier in the Indian Army and after retirement was doing farming. Whereas Hira Devi works at home by rearing buffaloes and cutting wood and grass from the forest. Now the biggest difficulty was that both of them had never faced the camera in their lives. Both the actors were prepared for the shooting after a two-month long workshop under the guidance of Anup Trivedi of National School of Drama.

Ashok Pandey writes in his/her post, ‘Watching this film being made from scratch was like watching a magic happen. When Vinod, who is always in search of new stories, decided to make this completely untouched topic the subject of his/her film, I was surprised. Then the script of the film was written. It was changed and improved a thousand times. It took several days to work on each dialogue.

Oscar winning Michael Danna has given the background music

Vinod Kapri left no stone unturned in the post production of the film. After the shooting was completed, he/she requested Oscar-winning composer Michael Danna for the background score. he/she first asked to see the footage of the film, and after watching it, he/she was so impressed that he/she immediately agreed to do the music of ‘Pyre’. Michael Danna is a Canadian film and television score musician. he/she won both a Golden Globe and an Oscar for Best Original Score for ‘Life of Pi’ (2012). he/she has worked with directors such as Deepa Mehta, Terry Gilliam, Scott Hicks, Ang Lee, Mira Nair, Joel Schumacher and Denzel Washington.

Film editor Patricia Rommel has edited this film. Her name is taken among the few talented female film editors of the present era. ‘Editing is very similar to writing,’ says Patricia. A writer has his/her thoughts and his/her words. As an editor I work with shots, sound, music and my own ideas. I play with time intervals, combining shots. Patricia edited the film ‘The Life of Others’, which won an Oscar for Best International Film in 2006. he/she also edited Angelina Jolie’s film ‘First They Killed My Father’ (2017).

Gulzar Sahab wrote the song for ‘Pyre’ without taking any money.

Gulzar, a unique lyricist of his/her kind in Hindi and has written songs like ‘Jai Ho’, has written a song for ‘Pair’. Vinod told that Gulzar did not take any money for writing songs in this film, he/she said that in this film I see the tradition of Satyajit Ray’s cinema, I will not take any fee for it. Vinod says that it is his/her good fortune that these three great personalities of world cinema have contributed to PAIR.

In the words of Ashok Pandey, as a film director, Vinod has always surprised with his/her choice of subjects. ‘Pair’ is an independent cinema and not only in India but all over the world, indie cinema even today has to struggle to make its place amidst the market pressures. It was not easy to make this film without professional actors. When Vinod could not find any producer to invest money in the film, he/she and his/her life partner Sakshi Joshi decided to make this film. Sakshi Joshi, director of Bhagirathi Films, said that she has always had faith in Vinod’s determination regarding stories and characters. Making an independent film in India without studio support is difficult but not impossible.

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When will ‘Pyre’ be released in India?

Vinod said that ‘Pyre’ will still take time to reach the Indian audience. After its world premiere at the Tallin Film Festival, ‘Pyre’ will be screened at various international film festivals for at least 7-8 months, official information about which will be released from time to time. Only after that it will be released somewhere in India.

Finally, in the words of Ashok Pandey – ‘Pyre’ is a beautiful love letter written from earth to the sky!