
“A Process of Small but Important Adjustments”: Editor Anadi Athaley on Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears)

The feature debut from writer-director Rohan Parashuram Kanawade, Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears) follows (Bhushaan Manoj), a man who returns from the bustling city he now calls home to his remote childhood village after the death of his father. While back for a 10-day mourning period, he meets a farmer (Suraaj Suman) and the two quickly form a strong bond that turns romantic.
Editor Anadi Athaley discusses the process of cutting Kanawade semi-autobiographical film, touching on the scenes that were trimmed, his personal connection to the story and how the project “reaffirmed my belief in the power of subtlety.”
See all responses to our annual Sundance editor interviews here.
Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job?
Athaley: A mutual friend had suggested my name to Rohan, the director, and he ended up getting in touch. As soon as I heard the premise of the film, it struck a deeply personal chord. Having lost my father two years prior, I found myself resonating profoundly with the story’s themes of loss and reconciliation. I felt an immediate connection, not only to the narrative but also to its emotional core. It was a story I felt compelled to help shape. What solidified our collaboration was the shared understanding Rohan and I had about the film’s aesthetic vision. Our creative sensibilities aligned seamlessly, and I believe my own lived experiences brought an additional layer of empathy and depth to the editing process. It was as if the film found me at the right time.
Filmmaker: In terms of advancing your film from its earliest assembly to your final cut, what were your goals as an editor? What elements of the film did you want to enhance, preserve, tease out, or totally reshape?
Athaley: From the very first assembly, my primary goal was to preserve the film’s cultural and emotional authenticity while ensuring its themes held universal resonance. Watching the rushes, I was struck by the film’s quiet intensity, and it became clear that my responsibility was to protect and amplify this delicate quality and the director’s vision. One of the key challenges was maintaining narrative momentum during the film’s quieter moments without compromising its contemplative tone. A significant part of my work involved finding this balance—trimming scenes that, while compelling, didn’t fit into the flow, and carefully modulating the emotional arcs of our protagonists to sustain engagement. It was a process of subtraction and refinement, ensuring every moment carried weight while serving the larger story.
Filmmaker: How did you achieve these goals? What types of editing techniques, processes, or feedback screenings allowed this work to occur?
Athaley: We started by assembling the film in chronological order to get a sense of its natural flow. From there, we carefully built each scene, paying close attention to when to hold back emotions and when to let them unfold, often just by adjusting where a scene started or ended. The film mostly comprises long takes, which gave it a natural rhythm, which we leaned into. We also shared the film with our producers and a few trusted filmmakers to get their feedback on how it was coming across. Often, if a scene wasn’t working, we found the issue lay in the scenes leading up to it. Their input helped us fine-tune those earlier moments, which in turn made the later scenes land more effectively. It was a process of small but important adjustments that brought the story together.
Filmmaker: As an editor, how did you come up in the business, and what influences have affected your work?
Athaley: I trained at the Film and Television Institute of India, where I was introduced to a wide range of world cinema. Filmmakers like Karel Kachyna and Emir Kusturica influenced my approach to storytelling and visual texture, while Indian directors like Ritwik Ghatak shaped my understanding of emotion and its deep cultural roots. Working across both narrative and documentary films has taught me how to balance structure with spontaneity, a balance that played a significant role in shaping Sabar Bonda.
Filmmaker: What editing system did you use, and why?
Athaley: I used Adobe Premiere Pro on a Mac Studio for Sabar Bonda. Premiere offered the flexibility we needed to collaborate seamlessly, even while working remotely with my editing associate. It also helped that I’ve been using Premiere for nearly a decade, which allowed me to focus entirely on the creative process without having to think about the technical aspects of the software.
Filmmaker: What was the most difficult scene to cut and why? And how did you do it?
Athaley: One of the most challenging scenes to edit was a pivotal moment following Anand’s arrival at his paternal village to perform his father’s last rites. While Anand and his male relatives prepare the body for cremation inside a room, a tense conversation unfolds outside. Some relatives question who will light the pyre since Anand is unmarried, but his mother firmly insists that he should perform the ritual. Anand overhears this discussion, and the scene captures his quiet emotional response alongside his mother’s determination to protect him.
This scene was particularly difficult because it required a delicate balance between the tension in the external conversation and Anand’s internal experience, all while intercutting between the two spaces without disrupting the flow. It also serves as a tonal foundation for the rest of the film. We went through multiple versions, carefully refining the emotional weight and ensuring the intercutting felt organic rather than intrusive. Ultimately, we found the rhythm by blending elements from different versions and using diegetic sound to maintain a palpable, restrained tension throughout.
Filmmaker: What role did VFX work, compositing, or other post-production techniques play in terms of the final edit?
Athaley: We used subtle image manipulation techniques to achieve the emotional depth the film required. Since the film relied heavily on choreographed long takes, we occasionally brought elements from multiple takes to enhance the take we would use. This allowed us to add a sense of playfulness and incorporate small, meaningful details into the final shots in a choreographed way, enriching the overall emotional texture without disrupting the film’s natural rhythm.
Filmmaker: Finally, now that the process is over, what new meanings has the film taken on for you? What did you discover in the footage that you might not have seen initially, and how does your final understanding of the film differ from the understanding that you began with?
Athaley: Initially, I saw the film as a story about cultural and sexual identity intertwined with personal conflict. But looking back, it has grown into something much deeper—a narrative about resilience, rediscovering lost connections, and the threads of interconnectedness that bind us. The final cut revealed the profound emotional weight of small, seemingly insignificant moments, and how stories of identity, at their core, resonate universally. This process reaffirmed my belief in the power of subtlety—allowing the audience to find meaning in the silences and the spaces between the words.