Filmmaker Kanu Behl, best known for his bold directorial debut Titli (2014), has spoken out on the growing disillusionment among filmmakers with India’s major streaming platforms. In an exclusive conversation with NDTV, Behl said that not only Anurag Kashyap but several major directors in Mumbai are “done” with Netflix and other OTT giants due to their increasingly commercial approach. “It’s not just the fringe filmmakers anymore — even established names are now realising that their turn has come. We are all struggling to get the work we believe in made,” he remarked.

Behl, whose new film Agra releases in theatres this Friday, explained that the ongoing corporatisation of content has made it tougher for independent voices to thrive. “Earlier it was hard enough to find screens for indie films, but now even the digital spaces we thought would welcome us have changed their priorities. The platforms that once promised to revolutionise storytelling are now chasing numbers, turning into TV++ instead of nurturing creativity,” he said. The director, who has also helmed Despatch and Binnu Ka Sapna, described this shift as a “choking of genuine cinema,” where storytelling is secondary to algorithms and market strategies.

Drawing parallels with Anurag Kashyap’s outspoken criticism of Netflix’s approach in India, Behl revealed that conversations among filmmakers have become more open and honest in recent years. “There’s more solidarity now. Earlier, everyone stayed quiet thinking their turn would come. But the corporatisation of OTT space has hit even the mid-tier filmmakers within the system. The bigger production houses have formed what can only be called incestuous relationships with the streamers, and that’s killing opportunities for diverse voices,” Behl said, without naming specific companies.

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Behl’s current theatrical release Agra, which premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival’s Directors’ Fortnight, is a bold, intimate exploration of desire and claustrophobia in modern India. Starring debutant Mohit Agarwal along with Rahul Roy, Vibha Chhibber, and Priyanka Bose, the film examines sexual repression through the lens of space and economic disparity. “We live in a country where over 140 crore people are packed tighter than sardines. I wanted to mirror this suffocation — physical and emotional — without judgement,” he explained. The filmmaker said Agra uses the city as a metaphor rather than a setting, symbolising societal madness rather than targeting a specific geography.

Describing Agra as “a difficult but honest film,” Behl urged audiences to support it in theatres despite competition from mainstream releases. “Cinema is a mirror to real life. If a film feels uncomfortable to watch, imagine what life must be for those living it. Agra was made with immense love and courage; it’s not about glamour or simplification, but truth,” he said. Behl believes that independent cinema remains essential to India’s cultural fabric and hopes for the eventual rise of a collective filmmaker movement to challenge the homogeneity of content streaming platforms have begun to enforce.

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