It’s common to hear about independent and niche films not getting the desired shows in cinemas nowadays. Some filmmakers are too apprehensive to raise their voice. But Kanu Behl decided not to take things lying down. On Thursday, November 13, he posted on his X (formerly Twitter) account that his film Agra has been denied shows due to so-called ‘big blockbusters’ and because the small films don’t fit into multiplex programming. On the morning of November 14, the day Agra released, he uploaded a screenshot of the number of shows secured by his film in Mumbai. His film was played in just 3 cinemas with 4 shows. Kanu’s caption for this picture was ‘slow claps’. After he raised his voice, many from the industry like Manoj Bajpayee, Saiyami Kher, Sudhir Mishra etc came out in support. On November 15, after Kanu’s relentless fight, Agra is now playing in 9 cinemas in Mumbai. But the battle is far from over. In the evening of November 14, Bollywood Hungama exclusively spoke to Kanu to further understand the issue. When asked when he realized that Agra is being denied shows, he said, “I was a part of this conversation in peripheral ways since I am the director. I didn’t know upfront. 2 weeks back, we got the initial list of about 100 screens, out of which 9 belonged to PVR Inox. It was quite less. I insisted that we need to start cracking better cinemas. But the process got delayed and we didn’t hear anything. On Thursday night, I was told that shows nahin mil raha hai as all the shows were given to the bigger films. I don’t want to take names; I am not against any film. What we heard eventually was that we were not getting the shows. That’s when I started talking about it.” Agra has been distributed by Mantra Luminosity. Did Kanu Behl try to reach out to the theatres directly? Kanu replied, “I didn’t have direct communication with them. I only heard through my team. Generally, what we heard is that ‘A film like Agra doesn’t fit into our programming’ and ‘There’s a bigger film out there and everybody is going out for it’. But my point is that we are a country of 5000-6000 screens. We are not asking for 1000 screens or even 500 screens. We are only asking for 100 good screens. Why can’t we get 100 good screens that are accessible and are at a convenient time so that people can sample the film? If they like it, then the word of mouth will spread. Hence, we are not making an exorbitant ask.”Did the social media posts of Kanu Behl help in any way? After all, the fact that it got 9 shows in Mumbai on Saturday was thanks to his tweets. Or else, the number of shows might have reduced further on Saturday. Kanu explained, “Yes, but even if you notice, there are no shows in big chains yet. We are now trying to add as many shows as possible. But this whole thing about the big chains having a monopoly is a real issue. It doesn’t concern only me or my film Agra. It is an issue of the independent filmmaking community at large.”Kanu Behl said that he would continue to make efforts to get justice, “We are going to keep fighting. It’s time to talk and start this conversation. This keeps happening again and again in every film. If you remember, even All We Imagine As Light suffered the same problem. The same thing happened to Homebound, maybe to a lesser extent, because Dharma was involved. But every time an independent film was released, whether Sabar Bonda or Jugnuma, this happens. Until now, everyone was talking individually. Now, all of us independent filmmakers are coming together, and we are going to raise our voices collectively.”A few netizens asked Kanu Behl on X to release Agra directly on OTT. Kanu told them that a mafia exists even in that space. When asked if the OTT rights have been sold, Kanu Behl replied, “The rights have not been sold. But my question is, why not theatres? Why should my film also go directly into the black hole called OTT? A film of this sort just gets dumped on a streaming platform without any promotion. Do people even know that those films exist? Has the decay of our culture gotten so bad and has the rot set so deep that no one just cares anymore? Is it all about Rs. 100 crores or Rs. 1000 crores or Rs. 5000 crores? When we are on our deathbed, will we remember the amount of money we earned or the quality of lives we lived and the people that matter to us? When will this shameless capitalist consumerist activity stop? When will we put an end to it?”Also Read: Kanu Behl urges audience to speak up as Agra struggles for shows amid ‘big blockbuster’ dominance.
