Agra (/ˈɑːɡrə/, Hindustani:[ˈaːgraː]ⓘ) is a 2023 Hindi-language Indian drama film, co-written and directed by Kanu Behl. It features debutant Mohit Agarwal, Priyanka Bose, Ruhani Sharma, Vibha Chibber, Sonal Jha and Aanchal Goswami in pivotal roles. The film 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.
It premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film FestivalDirectors' Fortnight on 24 May 2023 with the description, "Agra grasps the reality of patriarchy in India through the prism of male sexual misery".[1]
In November 2022, the film was selected for India’s Film Bazaar strand, which is a part of Film Bazaar, the South Asia film project market operated by India’s National Film Development Corporation.[4]
Agra was filmed in June and July 2019. In 2020, when the film was in the middle of post production, It was held up for five months due to COVID-19 pandemic. It was shot on location in Agra.[5]
In August 2023, it was selected at 2023 Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, where it won the Best Indie Film award and Best Performance in Film (male) award for Mohit Agarwal.[8]
It was screened at the 28th Busan International Film Festival in 'A Window on Asian Cinema' on 7 October 2023,[9][10] as well as at the 20th Hong Kong Asian Film Festival (zh:香港亞洲電影節) on 31 October and 12 November 2023.[11] It was also screened at the MAMI film festival 2023 where it won the Special Jury Price.[12]
Reception
On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes website, the film has an approval rating of 100% based on 7 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10.[13]
Fabien Lemercier reviewing for Cineuropa praised the film and wrote, "A hard-hitting and audacious film that will leave no one indifferent and that only a formally talented filmmaker like Kanu Behl could bring to a safe harbour beyond its ambient darkness."[15] Namrata Joshi for ScreenDaily wrote in review that in the film "The characters are developed well and have complexity to them, and the terrific ensemble cast elevates the film; particularly Bose, Agarwal and Roy..."[16]
Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave a positive review and described it as "a triumphal return to Cannes".[17]Anna M. M. Vetticad wrote on Himal Southasian: "Agra is an unsettling reminder of why society should study the victim-turned-victimiser phenomenon, the heterogeneity of evil and persecution, if we wish to combat the self-destructive nature of patriarchy." Vetticad added, "The optimistic view is that just as 'life finds a way', to quote Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park, so too good cinema will find its audience."[18]
Accolades
Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee(s) of the award, and the result of the nomination
^Sashidhar Adivi (22 June 2019). "Ruhani Sharma goes North". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 9 August 2019. Retrieved 15 September 2023.