HT Exclusive: Vinod Kapri on casting an 80-year-old Army veteran and a 70-year-old woman with no acting experience as Pyre's elderly lead couple

Speaking to Hindustan Times, National Award-winning filmmaker Vinod Kapri looked back at the unusual journey that brought his two lead actors on board.

National Award-winning filmmaker Vinod Kapri's search for the lead actors of Pyre took several years, countless auditions and a few unexpected turns. He had considered actors such as Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah, and even tried making the film with the real-life couple who inspired the story. But the faces he was looking for eventually came from two rather unexpected places.

Vinod Kapri's Pyre features Padam Singh Kapri, 80, and Heera Devi, 70, both first-time actors from Uttarakhand.

Set in Uttarakhand's Kumaon region, Pyre tells the story of an elderly couple whose children have left their village in search of better opportunities. With no one else around, the two are left to navigate old age, loneliness and the changing life of their mountain home. The film looks at migration through the lives of parents who stay behind while the younger generation moves away.

Pyre features Padam Singh Kapri, 80, and Heera Devi, 70, both first-time actors from Uttarakhand. Padam, a retired Indian Army serviceman, plays a character named after himself, while Heera takes on the role of Tulsi. The film has won 18 international awards and is produced by Vinod Kapri, Suresh Joshi and Arindra Rai Chaudhuri under Bhagirathi Films and Mashakbeen Studios. It released in theatres across India on October 30 in Hindi and Malayalam.

The idea for Pyre took shape in 2018, when Vinod met an elderly couple in Munsyari, Uttarakhand. He spent close to two hours talking to them and recorded their conversation on his phone. Their bond left a lasting impression on him, and he initially felt they should play themselves in the film. He even spent eight to 10 days shooting with them, hoping to bring their story to the screen. However, the experience soon made him realise that their real-life chemistry alone was not enough to carry the film.

"That was my first attempt to make this film with them and but I failed miserably because we went there unprepared and they don't even understand they don't have even understanding of cinema or camera or acting or anything. I realized that should look for more mature actors," he said.

Vinod then began searching for elderly actors from the Himalayan region who could bring a natural understanding of the setting, its culture and language to the story. He auditioned more than 50 to 60 people over the next two years, but none seemed right for the roles. After struggling to find his lead pair, he eventually approached Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah.

What Naseeruddin Shah told Vinod Kapri about casting

Vinod shared the script with Naseeruddin after actor Vishal Bhardwaj helped connect them. Both Naseeruddin and Ratna liked the story and were keen to be part of the film. However, the Main Vaapas Aaunga actor had a question about whether they would be able to do justice to characters so deeply rooted in the region. “He was so candid about film and a story and he said you know we really wanted to do this film and we don't want to leave this film because this is such a beautiful script but I have one concern do you think that we belong to that place and do you think we both of us can do justice to this film just think about it,” Vinod recalled.

Naseeruddin also raised concerns about shooting in the Himalayas, given his health condition. “My doctor advised me that you can't shoot film in Himalayas because you have breathing problem,” he told Vinod. He suggested shooting the wider shots in the mountains and filming the remaining portions elsewhere. Vinod understood his concerns and decided to continue looking for actors who could naturally connect with the world of the story.

How Vinod Kapri's uncle went from a family gathering to the lead role

After another year and a half of searching, Vinod found his male lead at an unlikely place: his father's 80th birthday celebration in July 2022. Among the guests was his uncle, who was around 76 or 77 at the time. A retired Army officer, he had no experience in acting, whether on screen, on stage or even in a Ramlila. But having heard that his nephew was looking for an actor, he decided to volunteer himself.

Vinod wasn't sure if his uncle was serious. He had been drinking at the family gathering, and the filmmaker initially thought he was joking. Nevertheless, he handed him a scene from the film, one of its most challenging sequences, and decided to record his attempt on his phone. “I thought maybe he's drunk. So just to please him, I just gave him one scene. This is the scene from the film. One of the most difficult scene from the film. And my family members, everyone was there. So I shot that on my mobile and the way he performed I was it was completely unbelievable,” he said.

While the performance impressed him, the filmmaker wanted to see if his uncle could recreate it outside the setting of a family gathering. The next day, he visited him in the village with an actor from the National School of Drama. They spent two weeks together, working on 12 to 15 scenes before Vinod was convinced that he had found his actor. His uncle eventually took on the role of Padam Singh, the film's male protagonist.

A still from Vinod Kapri's Pyre.

How a woman carrying grass became Pyre's female lead

With his male lead finalised, Vinod Kapri still had to find the woman who would play his onscreen partner. He continued visiting villages, speaking to elderly women and looking for someone who had the right presence for the role. During one such visit, while on his way back to Delhi, he spotted an elderly woman walking with a bundle of wood on her head. Her face caught his attention, but she panicked when she saw him and his team approaching. She mistook them for forest department officials who had come to question her for carrying wood.

"She was scared from us. She thought that because she was carrying wood on her head. So she thought that we are from forest department and we are coming to arrest her," Vinod said.

The woman quickly ran into her village and alerted the others. Vinod and his team then explained that they were filmmakers looking for an elderly woman to play the lead role in their film. As they spoke to the villagers, they heard someone calling out from a nearby field. It was another elderly woman, Heera Devi, who was carrying grass on her shoulder. Having heard that the visitors were looking for a heroine, she walked towards them to find out more.

Vinod was drawn to Heera's confidence and asked her to perform a scene. She had just one request: she wanted to perform in Kumaoni because she could not speak Hindi. The filmmaker was happy to let her do it in her own language. He liked her performance and decided to spend another week with her, shooting seven or eight scenes to see how she handled the camera. The team was convinced that they had found their female lead. Heera, however, had other thoughts when the filmmaker told her that she had been selected.

"She said no. I thought ‘this is just a joke and I was just joking with you’. I'm not doing any film because I belong to the society which feel that doing film is not a good thing to do," Vinod recalled.

Heera was concerned about how people in her village would react to her decision to act in a film. She was also uncomfortable with the idea of attending rehearsals and spending time with a man who was not her husband. He realised that she needed some reassurance before agreeing to the role. He decided to speak to her son, who was familiar with his work, and explain why he wanted her in the film.

Her son eventually encouraged her to trust the filmmaker and consider the opportunity. "He convinced her that mom he's a nice person and he's if he's approaching you and he has chosen you so he might be doing something good so you must do whatever he's saying," Vinod said. His son's reassurance finally helped Heera change her mind. She agreed to play Tulsi, giving Kapri the female lead he had spent so long searching for.

What Naseeruddin Shah said after watching Pyre

After finalising the cast, Vinod informed Naseeruddin Shah that he had found his lead actors. He also told him that neither had any previous experience in front of a camera. Naseeruddin asked him to invite him for a screening once the film was complete. He and Ratna Pathak Shah eventually watched the film at a screening in Mumbai.

Vinod recalled that Naseeruddin was moved by the performances and went up to both newcomers to congratulate them. "He was in tears and he hugged both of them and he said this whatever they have done we could not have done this kind of performance they are phenomenal they are phenomenal," the filmmaker said.

Pyre released in cinemas on October 30. The film is produced by Vinod Kapri, Suresh Joshi and Arindra Rai Chaudhuri under Bhagirathi Films and Mashakbeen Studios.