With Agra set to be screened at Melbourne film fest, director Kanu Behl on how indie filmmakers struggle to get backing for movies
Priyanka Bose and Mohit Agarwal in Agra
Making the kind of films I make is tough,” Kanu Behl’s opening line hits us hard. At a time when we believe that there is enough space for diverse voices out there, the director observes that independent filmmakers still find it difficult to get backing for their movies. It was the same story with Agra, which won immense love at the Cannes Film Festival this year. Now, the drama is set to be screened at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne on August 15. “It takes a lot of work to make a film exactly the way you make it. I have many more stories I’d love to tell at a quicker pace. But to find a producer and get the film released is the toughest bit.
This, even when there is no dearth of courageous people, who want to push the envelope,” says the director.
Starring Rahul Roy and Priyanka Bose, Agra is described as an exploration of sexual dynamics within a family. It is a deeply personal film for Behl. “Growing up, from the age of 15 to 25, I felt sexual repression and an inability to express myself. This was still coming from a place of privilege; I lived in a 3BHK in Delhi. But imagine, people who were a few notches below me economically going through the same thing. There is a sense of transactionality in our most intimate moments. It was an important emotion to discuss.”
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Director Kanu Behl and Rahul Roy
It is worrisome that the story is being told at a time when censorship is at its peak. But the director isn’t perturbed at the moment. Right now, the film is enjoying its festival runs, and hasn’t got a CBFC certificate. “My previous experience with the CBFC was reasonable, so I hope they see Agra in the same light. It is not sensationalising sexuality.”
A story about sexual repression will most likely elicit strong reactions in the sensitive and reactive world of today. Does he find his voice curtailed in such a scenario? “For a while on the initial drafts, I was censoring myself. I’d ask myself how to make this movie. But the only way to battle it is to continuously try and be honest. I asked myself, what is my base impulse to work? My output should be fair to my impulse.”
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