By Renu Mehta
Aga Khan Museum, Toronto
Vinod Kapri is an Indian filmmaker who has many documentaries and features to his credit including I Can’t Take this Shit Anymore (2014), Miss Tanakpur Haazir Ho (2015) and Pihu (2018) amongst others.
His latest film, Pyre, was featured at the 2025 Mosaic International South Asian Film Festival (MISAFF), founded by Arshad Khan, where it earned both the Best Feature Film and Best Music awards.
The film tells the story of two real life individuals – Padam Singh and Hira Devi – who live in a secluded Himalayan village where they struggle with the isolation of a dwindling community. With neighbors gradually leaving, they confront the deepening solitude until they find themselves completely alone. Director Vinod Kapri speaks about the inspiration behind the film and the challenges that he faced while making the film.
What inspired the story?
I was visiting the Himalayas and met this couple in their 80s and I asked them “what is your biggest worry, what is your biggest challenge?” The gentlemen told me that his biggest fear was that if he died first, what will happen to her”. I spent about 2-3 hours with them and tried to understand their life. The thought remained with me as I realized that I should tell their story as this is very important. This is a universal story happening everywhere in the world and that people would relate to it.
What was your biggest challenge in shooting the film?
I deliberately shot this film during the rainy season. The conditions were very bad there and every day we had to walk 2-3 hours to reach the location. The first scene was very challenging, especially where you see the couple on the cliff. That scene took about four hours as both of them were non actors. When we completed the shot, everyone was clapping and feeling good as we felt the toughest scene in the film is over now.
However, when I saw the rushes in the night, I thought that no, this is not done. We have to shoot this again. It was very tough especially for these people. So I went to the gentleman and said ”you know, you did very well, but Amma did some blunder”. Then I went to Amma and said ”your performance was fabulous but he was not good. ” She said “okay, tell him to do the scene nicely next time.”
It was also challenging as these two people were non actors, and they don’t understand the camera, or the camera angle or which lens we are using or what we are up to. Also, the geography and location was very challenging, but at the same time, we said we have to do this at any cost.
How long did you take to write the script?
Initially, when I met this real life couple in 2017, I completely fell in love with their story and decided I would make a film with that couple only. I was not sure whether they will live for 3-4 months or not because they were so sick at that point of time. I thought we would need a camera and take a skeleton crew of 7-8 people and we are going to shoot with them.
So I spoke to my Director of Photography (DOP) and said I have to do this film in next two weeks. They asked me for the script. I said there is no script.
During the 18-hour journey from Delhi to our location, my DOP was constantly asking me for the script. I told him don’t worry I will give you the first draft before the shooting. So during the route, I was writing my first draft on my mobile. 90 per cent of the first draft is the same as you saw in the film
How was the shooting with the protagonists who were non actors?
I shot almost every scene on my mobile before we went for the proper shot. But everyone was nervous when we shot that first scene when the couple are having their dinner and he says this vegetable is too salty. That was the first shot of the day and everybody in the crew clapped and we thought they have done the first scene so well, so now we are through the difficult part. After that we took five more takes, but that first shot said we can do the film with this couple.
Tell us about the music and the other crew on this film?
We had some wonderful people who collaborated on this film. Academy Award-winning music composer Mychael Danna, who won an Oscar in 2012 for Life of Pi, instantly agreed to do the music for the film. Patricia Rommell, award winning German editor for The Lives of Others, and Gulzar Sahab who penned a song for Pyre. It is like a blessing that they did this film. Gulzar Sahab after watching the rushes of the film called me and said this film reminds me of the films of Satyajit Ray. In fact, he didn’t charge anything for the film and neither did Patricia Rommell.
