Agra, directed by Indian filmmaker Kanu Behl, fearlessly delves into the exploration of human desires and the lengths one goes to satisfy their repressed needs. The stark narrative sacrifices empathy in favor of self-preservation while boldly confronting uncomfortable truths and challenging societal norms. While this valiant approach may unsettle some viewers, it is precisely the discomfort that Behl aims for and effectively achieves.

During this interview, Behl discusses the thematic choices, creative decisions and nuanced details of his thought process for Agra.

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Dipankar Sarkar: The protagonists of your films Titli (2014), Binnu Ka Sapna (2019) and Agra (2023) seek to liberate themselves from their current situations while battling fractured masculinity, sexual repression and the toxicity of the patriarchy. What sparks your interest in addressing these sensitive issues as a filmmaker?

Kanu Behl: My preoccupation is not so much with the toxic masculinity or the patriarchal bits of it. I think those form the base societal layers that we live in. There is a social, political and cultural context that we are all imbued with. It’s a structural sort of society that we live in that reflects, in different ways, almost all the stories that are told — not just by me, but by other filmmakers too. All three films have very different cores at their heart, and it just so happens that they are told from the point of view of a young male protagonist. So, maybe there seems to be that thread that binds them. Titli was much more about family and the idea of circularity. Binnu Ka Sapna was more about anger. Agra is my exploration into sexual depression and the idea of physical space and how both affect each other. So, the base mixture might seem similar, but all three pieces are entirely different for me.

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DS: You employ a measured approach in unveiling the characters’ motivations, plot developments and while establishing the environment in your storytelling. You permit the intensification of aggression, frustration and underlying violence to evolve steadily until it crescendos. Can you elaborate on your artistic style and the choices you make in crafting the narratives of your films? 

KB: I don’t think I’m actively trying to develop a style that I’m not aware of. Rather, I see myself as a filmmaker dedicated to serving the story. Referring to it as a story would be a little bit of a fallacy since I’m not particularly drawn to the idea of narrating a story or a narrative. For me, it is having the ability to observe a character within a given time and space, where the story sort of becomes a little bit of a spine around which you can weave a certain time and space. This can only happen when you can give the audience some sort of freedom from the pace and narrative push so that they can truly engage with the larger questions you might be posing through the film. So, if you’re able to suspend time a little bit and let it swim in a way, you almost get into the rhythms of the character. In all my films, the idea is to get into the rhythms of time and space that these characters feel, and once you are in there, you start to live your life outside of the story and the plot. So, instead of it being the typical encounter we mostly experience in Hindi cinema or cinema in our country at large, where you perceive someone telling you a story, the goal of my films is to transform it into an experience where you accidentally stumble upon a narrative, ideally forgetting that it’s being told by someone.

I aim to distance myself from the narrative, actively creating the ruse that you are seeing someone who is sharing their rhythms, their life, their time and their space with you. By doing so, I intentionally introduce negative space in the film, encouraging the audience to detach from their addiction to story and narrative. I enter a bit early and exit a bit late, generating space for the audience to connect with the character. Once the story, the plot and the emotion are consumed, you are still there. fostering a unique, lasting connection with the character. This, I believe, breathes life into the film beyond the time that you spend watching it.

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DS: In Binnu Ka Sapna, you took the creative decision to use a 1:1 aspect ratio and freeze frames, and in Agra, vibrant streaks of color capture the disorder and chaos enveloping the protagonist’s world. What inspired the conception of these visual techniques?

KB: In approaching a character, the goal is to deeply understand their emotions and convey them as authentically as possible to the audience, by utilizing certain tools as a filmmaker at your disposal to better reflect the headspace or the mind space that the character lives in. In the case of Binnu Ka Sapna, Siddharth Diwan, the cinematographer, and I recognized his narrow perspective on life, akin to having blinkers on. To mirror this, we opted for a one-to-one aspect ratio, symbolizing his limited viewpoint. This choice extended to still images reflecting his emotionally frozen state, where he clings to specific images, refusing to embrace the nuances of life. The decision for freeze frames emerged as the most effective way to capture Binu’s character and his tightly-held worldview.

Similarly, with Guru in Agra, when I was writing, I faced the challenge of making the audience empathize with a very difficult character because he’s doing some unacceptable and dastardly things. Emotionally, that was the reason for me to go for the colors in the film, which aimed to build empathy. While from a craft perspective, it served as an emotional cushion for pivotal moments. The first 20 minutes of Agra fly by like a chaotic storm, where a lot is happening. After I wrote the scene where Guru drinks phenyl, I just felt like there needed to be a pause for us to be able to take in this chaos. So, the use of colors not only delves into Guru’s psyche but also offers a visual pause, allowing the audience to process the narrative’s complexities.

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DS: Both Binnu and Guru, trapped in their delusions, construct imaginary worlds shaped by repression and the inability to secure a sexual partner. Are these two characters mirror images of their unfulfilled desires?

KB: Not at all. I mean, I half agree with your question. I think as far as Binnu goes, he pretty much lives inside his world. He is not a listener, and he probably stopped listening to other people or having an honest conversation with anyone quite a while ago in his life. But I slightly differ on Guru. I think he’s probably the only guy who’s honestly trying to have a conversation in that house. Despite lacking the vocabulary, he challenges the status quo, questioning unconventional living arrangements and suggesting alternative living situations. Though others label him as mad, he introduces a level of drama into an otherwise settled house, addressing the underlying issue of a sexual storm in the house. As the others continuously dismiss his concerns, Guru eventually concedes to the transactional nature of relationships. He decides to demonstrate how transactions should be done, making a deal with a construction guy to sacrifice the half floors of the house. So, even though you have the five-floor house, even though you have this sequence of everybody imbuing their dreams into the house, you know that the need of this house, the very foundation of this house, is not their own. It’s sold out. This pragmatic move symbolizes Guru’s reverse coming of age, revealing that the foundation of their seemingly dream-filled house is compromised. While he may not fully comprehend it from the start, Guru gradually becomes more self-aware, gaining insight into the dynamics around him by the end.

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DS: In a pivotal moment in Agra, when Chhavi unveils the truth to Guru about Priti’s lack of legal documents for the cafe and her deceptive actions, Guru chooses an audacious course of action that promises resolution to his family’s issues, rather than confronting Priti directly. Could it be said that Guru’s newfound courage stems from his fear of losing Priti?

KB: No, not at all. Right after Chavi informs him about going to the cafe owner’s house, he does go to the internet cafe and fucks her, attempting to recreate the visceral, animalistic closeness he understands best. Amid their physical intimacy, he tries to inquire about the truth. He asks if she will come with him and mentions the possibility of sustaining themselves through the internet cafe. However, she asserts that his house is her house. Despite his attempt to uncover the truth, he remains uncertain. There is no absolute truth for him regarding whether she loves him or not. It’s a complex blend of transactional elements and love, with ambiguity about her feelings. The indeterminate nature of what transpired during their intimate moment and the meaning behind her words profoundly altered him. At this juncture, he concludes that both transactional and genuine love co-exist, realizing there might not be pure love. This realization sets the stage for the family’s final journey toward creating the five-story monument, symbolizing a fusion of transaction and love.

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DS: as the deal for the house with the builder is sealed, there’s a noticeable shift in familial attitudes toward Priti. Is this transformation a sincere change of heart or does it carry a hint of hypocrisy?

KB: The entire final act, the construction of the house, is laden with irony. Suddenly, the actions of the boy and the woman fulfill everybody’s dreams. They accept the relationship between the boy and the woman, which they previously opposed. The whole musical sequence at the end, where you see the house getting constructed, is meant to be ironic.

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DS: You have worked with lesser-known actors or debutants as the protagonists of your films. So, do you conduct workshops and how does it help you as a director?

KB: There are always lengthy workshops before I begin a film. While Agra features a mix of experienced and new actors, I generally lean towards working with new actors. This preference gives me more freedom to be able to shape them into the characters that are needed for the film. Busy actors are so busy doing so many things at the same time that they are still probably, most of the time, living the older character or many other older characters. My way of doing a workshop is to divide it into three phases. The first is to clean up from the previous characters and come to neutral. The second phase is being neutral, and then the third phase is taking on the character — taking on the skin that you’re going to play in the film. So, it’s a long process that requires a certain commitment and process, which helps me. So, I think that’s the reason I prefer to do longer workshops.

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DS: You worked with Sharat Katariya and Atika Chohan as co-writers for Titli and Agra, respectively. What led to the decision to work with different writers for each project?

KB: The external reason is always that it helps to have another voice in the room and you are not just bouncing off ideas by yourself. The decision to work with a particular person for a specific film depends on comfort. I had a very beautiful relationship with both Sharat and Atika while working on Titli and Agra, respectively. So, the most important factor for me when deciding to work with another writer is the comfort and safety within the room, where both parties can feel confident to say whatever they want. They should be able to share many bad ideas because, most often, it’s the bad ideas that lead to the good ideas.

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DS: The soundscape of Agra exhibits a harmonious fusion of ambient sounds, deliberate silences and contemplative background scores, enriching the overall viewing experience. Could you share insights into your approach to sound design in your films?

KB: When I was writing the film very early on, I realized that Guru doesn’t have a lot of music in his head or his life. There is just this white noise — this sexual white noise — that he feels because of his unfulfilled desire. So, the sound design needed to reflect the chaos within him, and that could only be built through some sort of atonal drone or very industrial sounds. The soundscape of the film reflects the noise in his head, pretty much until he meets Priti in the film. The first strains of a score that you hear in the film are when he sees Priti for the first time and follows [her to an] internet cafe. That’s when I and my sound designer, Pritam Das, decided to introduce some [music] into the film and then let the score slowly build up its presence until you have almost that four-minute piece that leads to the construction of the house. So, there is music, but it’s almost, as I said earlier, ironic.

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DS: The production design of Agra has an authentic setting, matching the mood and manner of the film. How did you achieve such a level of detail and accuracy to make it look as realistic as possible?

KB: So, I believe a huge credit goes to Parul Sondh for the production design. I feel she is a complete genius in her own right. Our collaboration with Titli and Agra has helped us develop a common language to convey our vision. I think what Parul and I both like to do is tell a story, not just through time but also through space. We treat space as a character of its own. and provide another layer of nuance to what is happening in people’s lives. Agra was a film about sexuality and sexual repression, and we aimed to design spaces that conveyed the presence of the phallic and the vulvic throughout the film. If you look at the design of the internet cafe, Parul and I had this idea for the cafe to almost feel like you’re entering a vagina, creating a passage that ends in a sort of sack. Phallic motifs are scattered throughout the house, whether in the fabric of the bedsheets or the overall design of the space. Small things like metal iron rods poking up through the unbuilt parts of the terrace were incorporated to imbue as many of these motifs as possible into the design. Our goal was for the feeling of sex, sexuality and sexual repression to be littered throughout the film so that you could feel it all around the characters consistently.

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DS: With Titli and Agra premiering at the Cannes Film Festival and Binnu Ka Sapna earning an award at the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival, how have these international accolades impacted and influenced your journey as a filmmaker?

KB: Having your film on an international platform, whether it’s Cannes or Clermont-Ferrand, always helps to amplify the film’s reach. I’m not involved in the classical big-budget Bollywood films with major stars, so the film needs to gain prominence through the festival route. It’s an instant way for the film to transcend its current scale. So, that’s one compelling reason to take that path. Another reason is to recognize that the story you’re telling, as local as it may be, is also universal in many ways. It can resonate with a global audience beyond your own country, which is always gratifying for a filmmaker. Knowing that your stories connect with people all across the planet — whether in Sydney, Rio de Janeiro the U.S. or Europe — is truly rewarding. They are stories that people are touched by and can identify with.

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DS: Has the journey from your days as a film school student at SRFTI to your role as an assistant director in Mumbai been a transformative experience for you?

KB: It’s very difficult to sort of collate this into one answer. It has been a very long and interesting journey where I have metamorphosed into two or three very different people. I think it’s tough for me to give you a short answer to this because one has to take you through the whole journey. From the age of 16 or 17, when I knew I wanted to be a filmmaker, to be able to go to a film school like SRFTI, my whole worldview on cinema completely changed — whether it was the international cinema I was seeing or whether it was my sort of introduction to international documentaries. It completely changed my perspective on cinema and the way I looked at filmmaking, altering my preoccupations with story and narrative and expanding my understanding of the elements that make cinema a magical experience. The foundation of this transformation lies in film school.

Following that, assisting Dibakar in Bombay provided valuable lessons in the practical aspects of filmmaking, emphasizing the importance of maintaining a sharp focus and understanding the processes involved in delivering that sharp focus. I’ve had a parallel sort of presence internationally, as you mentioned, whether it was doing my documentary for ZDF, ARTE or NHK. So, those experiences, by themselves, probably taught me how to transpose a very local story into simultaneously a more global and universal story and demonstrate the possibility of achieving both objectives. It’s an evolving, ongoing journey. I don’t know where I’m headed next, but I’ve enjoyed every bit of it.

Dipankar Sarkar (@Dipankar_Tezpur) is a graduate in film editing from the Film and Television Institute of India and currently based in Mumbai. As a freelancer, he frequently contributes to various Indian publications on cinema-related topics.

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