Kanu Behl interview: Inside the ‘Agra’-director’s claustrophobic universe

An acclaimed filmmaker known for his raw, unflinching portrayal of dysfunctional relationships, toxic masculinity, and societal undercurrents, Kanu Behl’s cinema exists betwixt the provocative and profound. After taking formation with the neo-noir thriller Titli, Kanu dissected the beingness of an investigative writer in Despatch, which evoked involvement successful the OTT universe. This November, the Delhi lad is returning to the container bureau with Agra, which talks of intersexual repression successful a suffocating abstraction wherever the rubric becomes a awesome of unfulfilled desires and intelligence turmoil.

A festival favourite, the movie stars newcomer Mohit Agarwal successful the pb role, with Priyanka Bose and Rahul Roy successful career-defining performances.

Edited excerpts from an interview:

What are you trying to accidental through ‘Agra’? It seems that the cardinal character, Guru, is simply a precursor to Titli’s negotiation with toxic masculinity successful a dysfunctional family.

As the stories are rooted successful the aforesaid root — maine — you spot that connection. For me, Titli was astir the thought of circularity successful however convulsive images are transmitted from procreation to procreation wrong a family. Agra is much astir repressed sexuality successful cramped carnal spaces. We are a state of 1.4 cardinal people, but successful presumption of landmass, we are smaller than China, which has a comparable population. When I started reasoning astir the repression that came from my acquisition of intersexual expression, I besides tried to find a larger discourse for wherever this comes from. How does our sexuality commencement affecting the spaces that we unrecorded in, and however bash the spaces successful crook impact our intersexual lives? I found this speech interesting.

Why did it instrumentality truthful long?

I was told that making a movie connected tendency and sexuality successful India is difficult. So I started tiptoeing astir the subject. The critical infinitesimal came connected the past time of a store successful Italy, erstwhile my mentor, seasoned exertion Molly Stensgaard, asked, ‘Do you cognize wherefore you are doing this film?’ I was taken aback. I mumbled that I americium doing it due to the fact that I privation to marque a movie connected intersexual repression. After an awkward, agelong pause, she said, ‘Then, wherefore don’t you bash it?’ I took a three-month interruption and realised that if I privation to marque the film, I should beryllium acceptable to instrumentality what comes with it. Then the COVID-19 pandemic derailed the plans...

Unlike different autarkic filmmakers, you don’t like to inform; instead, you marque america inhabit the rot. What is your process?

It starts with empathy for each the characters, not conscionable the main protagonists. As you are ploughing done draught by draught of your script, you are conscionable trying to autumn successful emotion with each being successful that publication to the grade wherever each of them go full-blown quality beings. Once you recognize their perspectives, you cannot basal connected a pedestal and say, ‘This is however it is.’ When each those inhabiting the abstraction person their points of view, you go, like, ‘Achcha!’ You (the audience) present determine what to bash with these people.

The narration betwixt antheral and pistillate successful your films is simply a precise transactional, give-and-take type, wherever women negociate with patriarchy.

I person intimately observed that women request to beryllium amended negotiators to past due to the fact that the carnal powerfulness successful our nine resides truthful overmuch with men, making it hard to propulsion backmost successful much overt ways. Women often find precise covert ways to exert their power. And hence, they are ever amended negotiators. Also, they person to find ways to survive. That really funny me, fixed the truly strong women I saw astir me. Growing up, I loved to beryllium a alert connected the wall. Some of the moments I observed astir me, I was like, ‘this idiosyncratic indispensable beryllium truthful tough,’ due to the fact that sometimes, you consciousness similar the antheral is not making the close decision, but you are incapable to accidental that straight due to the fact that determination is simply a monolithic ego to tackle.

The item of the movie is the narration betwixt Guru and Preeti, 2 incomplete persons successful accepted terms. How did you bring them unneurotic without giving them immoderate crutches to clasp connected to?

That find successful the publication was truly magical for maine due to the fact that I did not cognize where Agra was heading aft a point. We have a lad who mightiness beryllium labelled as ‘mentally damaged’ from the outside. He needs a catalyst — a cleanable foil — that volition amusement him light. I hit upon the idea, again successful quotes, of a ‘physically damaged woman.’ They are some judged by nine arsenic incomplete, but internally, they are well-rounded quality beings. I felt they would some recognize each different due to the fact that they some look the aforesaid societal gaze. When the 2 halves meet, they make thing beautiful, beyond tendency and transaction.

In the intimate scenes of your films, the characters are trying to gauge 1 another. It must beryllium daunting for the actors to bring retired that simmering intensity.

It is, but determination is nary 1 fixed process for it. It depends connected who you are moving with. In the aforesaid scene, you mightiness beryllium talking to 2 antithetic actors wholly differently, depending connected wherever they request to go and wherever you privation them to go. I usually disagreement my workshops into 3 phases. For instance, portion moving with Priyanka during signifier one, I person to cleanable retired Priyanka — the idiosyncratic — and each the different parts she has done truthful far. In the 2nd month, she is neutral, learning not to larn but to stay neutral. When she becomes habituated to neutrality and realises the quality betwixt the past and neutrality, the last period begins, wherever she becomes the character. Not by learning dialogues but by practising the rhythms of the quality being she is astir to play — What does Preeti bash extracurricular of this scene? Why does she locomotion the mode she walks?

Where is poesy and romance successful your cinema?

On an Archie’s card! Where is this thought of love, anyway, that is sold to us? Love is acold much analyzable than we similar to admit successful our regular lives. I aspire to person a analyzable speech with my assemblage — 1 arsenic adjacent arsenic imaginable to the lives they lead. I feel each of america pb specified analyzable lives that we lone aspire to scope retired for that perfect signifier of love, which is sacrificing, etc. Here, cipher is sacrificing, and determination is simply a motive attached determination that whitethorn travel successful the 2nd oregon 3rd act. But we should realise that determination is simply a motive down each our work. At the aforesaid time, I find a batch of quality successful relationships. There is a infinitesimal successful a precise captious country erstwhile Guru is unsure whether Preeti truly loves him. He goes to her and, successful a precise intimate moment, helium asks her wherever she would similar to unrecorded with her – astatine his location oregon astatine her shop, and she replies, ‘What quality does it make?’ It is these fragile moments that quality lives are each about.

You person formed Rahul Roy, the eternal person lad of Bollywood, arsenic Daddy with a woman and a mistress. How did helium acceptable in?

Working with Rahul Roy was a fantastic experience. In fact, helium formed himself. I usually marque 3 actors work a portion during workshops. I tell them not to get offended and not to instrumentality it arsenic an audition. I look for who rhymes good with whom. He would beryllium the past 1 to leave, and 1 evening, helium told me, ‘Kanu, representation toh main hullo karoonga!’

‘Titli’ was backed by Yash Raj Films successful 2014. A decade later, however bash you spot the country for autarkic cinema?

It’s gotten tougher to marque autarkic cinema. However, each autarkic filmmakers who person travel and gone earlier maine person said the aforesaid thing. We have overmuch bigger food to fry than conscionable autarkic cinema. In many ways, we are seeing that capitalism and the roses astir it that were shown to america are wilting, and the strategy is crumbling, and wrong the ruins of that, the archetypal radical to statesman seeing ample blocks of chromatic autumn connected their heads are the artistes.

Agra releases successful theatres connected November 14