Exclusive! Kanu Behl on Agra getting limited screens: Are we only going to talk about the next Bollywood star kid vehicle?

Kanu Behl’s Agra — a Cannes-lauded, deeply personal film about sexual repression and constrained spaces — final hit the Indian theatres; however, the celebration is bittersweet. On the eve of its release, Behl publicly accused multiplex chains of denying his film adequate shows, laying bare a recurring struggle in independent Indian cinema.Expressing his frustration, Kanu, who had directed the critically acclaimed film, Titli (2015), wrote on X, "Update on ‘Agra’, the film: We’re being denied shows because of the so-called ‘big blockbusters’ and because small films ‘don’t fit into’ multiplex chain programming. It’s up to you the audience now! Speak up and tag the chains. Say that you want to see the film!" He added, "Spread the word, or this will just go on and on.

And the space for anything else other than mindless ‘infantilised cinema’ will disappear." '

I am going to continue fighting'

While talking to us Behl says, “I am now immune to all of this. All that remains inside me is the fight. I am going to continue fighting. This film has been a nine year long fight. I am not about to give up now. I have faced every single roadblock that this film right from the time I started writing it, to trying to find finance for it. This is an independent filmmaker's life.

But I'm done keeping quiet now. Now I think I want to speak out.

”'

We were not looking for 1,000 shows or 500 shows'

It’s not just about the number of screens; according to Behl, the shows they do get are marginal, poorly timed, and not conducive to reaching a real audience. “The kind of shows that we were getting were very peripheral at odd timings and that would not have given proper access to the film. We were not looking for 1,000 shows or 500 shows. We were supposed to release only on 100 screens, but we were looking for 100 significant shows," he informs.

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All those people who strut around on red carpets in these film festivals need to finally speak'

Behl insists the issue isn’t just his — it’s deeply structural. He calls on the broader filmmaking community to unite: “We need more voices from within the industry to come together and fight not just for … This is not anymore about just Agra. These past two – three months, we've seen Jugnuma, we've seen Sabar Bonda, we've seen Homebound, all acclaimed films, acknowledged films, and we've seen what has happened with them.

”He goes on to add, "It’s really time where the community needs to come out and speak up all in one voice. All those people who strut around on red carpets in these film festivals need to finally speak about a film that actually showed in one of these film festivals.”

It absolutely does demotivate you'

Behl admits that this is not just a business or artistic crisis — it’s deeply demoralizing. “It absolutely does demotivate you. That is the truth. I don't know how many filmmakers will come up and talk about this.”

The fight to be heard, he says, wears you down. “It is disheartening. It is very troubling.”'

Are we only going to talk about the next Bollywood star kid vehicle?'

This isn’t merely about Agra getting its due. For Behl, there’s a larger battle happening — for the kind of cinema we allow, normalise, and reward. “We need to move the needle beyond just doing Disneyfied rubbish entertainment, which is essentially for third standard or fourth standard students sold to adults,” he argues.He poses a broader question: “How long will this go on and how long are we, the audience, going to accept it? What is the kind of world that we are creating for ourselves today and for our children that are going to follow? Is this going to be the level of nuance in this country, the level of conversation, the level of debate where each weekend we are only going to talk about the next Bollywood star kid vehicle, and there's no other conversation to be had?”