Ashok Pande

Ashok Pande’s 2024 film, Pyre, is not exactly your typical popcorn flick. It dives straight into the raw guts of family and tradition, dragging you through the dust and heat of rural India, where everyone’s got an opinion, and most of them aren’t exactly helpful. The story centers on a young couple, Kaali and Poonkuzhali, who do the most dangerous thing you can do in their village—fall in love across caste lines. It’s not just frowned upon; it’s an open invitation for chaos. Their romance isn’t soft-focus or sugar-coated. It's messy, desperate, and honestly, kind of terrifying at times, like when you realize that pretty much everyone around them would rather see them burn (literally) than break tradition. The village itself is almost a character—gossipy, judgmental, seething with old grudges and new tensions. The elders practically salivate at the chance to stamp out any whiff of rebellion, and it’s not like the younger generation is lining up to help. There’s a real sense of doom hanging over everything, but somehow the film doesn’t just drown you in misery. There’s bite, there’s wit, there are moments when you catch yourself hoping, even though you know better. Pande doesn’t flinch away from the violence or the heartbreak, but there’s an undercurrent of defiance that keeps things from tipping over into pure tragedy. In the end, Pyre is brutal, beautiful, and seriously hard to shake.