Recent Reviews by Sucharita Tyagi
Independent Film Critic
Sucharita Tyagi is a prominent Indian film critic who now splits her time between Mumbai and New York. With nearly 10 years of experience as a film critic, she is best known for her popular movie reviews on YouTube, where she has built a community of dedicated fans. Tyagi also has extensive experience in broadcast radio. Utilising her unique voice, she reviews and discusses South Asian pop culture with honesty and passion through a contemporary, feminist lens, breaking down complex issues in relatable ways.
Films reviewed on this Page
Chhaava
Loveyapa
Mrs
Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears)
The Seed of the Sacred Fig
Girls Will Be Girls
Despatch
I Want to Talk
Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3
Do Patti
Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears) (written for Mashable)
An assured debut feature that subverts queer tropes
Class stereotypes and compassion collide in this moving drama from India.
Cactus Pears (Sabar Bonda), Rohan Parashuram Kanawade’s semi-autobiographical debut feature about a queer romance experienced amid mourning is the only movie from India competing at the Sundance Film Festival. The story of love and grief in a rural setting came to Kanawade while coping with his own father’s death, as he wondered how different processing the loss might have felt if he had a companion with whom to escape. Regardless of the competition’s outcome in the World Cinema Dramatic category, this movie is already historic as the first Marathi-language film to premiere at the festival. Using the word “disruptive” doesn’t feel quite accurate for Cactus Pears, yet there is something tenderly disruptive in this compelling drama, an undeniable rebellion running through its DNA. Open and uninhibited expressions of love are not encouraged in most Indian households, especially when either the receiver or giver is a man. It may be a bit of a generalization, but most Indian patriarchs raise the male members of their families to become disciplinarians and household bosses. Hints of soft and tender emotions only get in the way.