Sexual Repression in India and an ‘Agra’ Without Taj Mahal: Kanu Behl on Cannes Directors’ Fortnight Selection
variety.comNaman Ramachandran After his debut feature “Titli” bowed at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard strand in 2014, Kanu Behl is back on the Croisette with “Agra,” which has its world premiere at the Directors’ Fortnight. ” ‘Agra’ grasps the reality of patriarchy in India through the prism of male sexual misery,” is how the festival describes the film.
It follows Guru, a young single call center employee who still lives with his parents. Consumed by frustration, he plunges into a fever bordering on insanity, between pathetic fantasies, dating apps and hysterical self-harm.
The film also explores the role property can play in a young man’s emancipation. After the theatrical release of “Titli” in India and France in 2015, Behl began thinking about what to do next. “I realized that I had felt a certain sexual repression or an inability to express myself sexually in my adolescent years,” Behl told Variety.
The filmmaker realized that he was not an isolated case and saw many examples around him. “There is this almost very common delayed sexual maturity that happens in India and I really started thinking about that,” Behl said adding that it is a subject not spoken about.
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