#KetchupNow: Kanu Behl's Agra being denied access is proof that independent cinema still can’t reach its own audience!

And the dilemma of independent cinema continues as even when a film manages to secure a release, it ends up suffering at the hands of multiplex chains and streaming platforms that deny it a fair chance at access!

When I previously exploredwhy independent cinema in India rarely receives the same weightage it does abroad, one of the biggest issues highlighted to me by indie filmmakers and actors, was the distribution system. Beyond audience perception, the very structure or rather, the nexus of theatre chains makes it nearly impossible for these films to reach viewers. With afternoon slots or just a handful of shows pitted against mainstream releases running 10 or more screenings a day, it simply isn’t a fair fight. 

This disparity surfaced again recently after Karan Johar’s comments on Homebound, where he admitted that despite everything, the film didn’t perform at the box office. The backlash that followed pointed to many factors but one recurring problem that is of limited screens. Even with the film being India’s Oscar entry, widely discussed, and backed by Dharma Productions, it still failed to achieve the numbers expected of it. The blame, therefore, cannot rest solely on audiences not showing up because it wasn’t just Homebound but even Sabar Bonda, Jugnuma, and more films that were much talked about and released this year. Hence it surely has to be about more than just people not watching such films in theatres!

As the same pattern once again emerges with Kanu Behl’s Agra,the debate is finally visible out loud. The film premiered at Cannes in 2023 and travelled extensively across festivals, yet it remains largely unseen by audiences in India, the very people who don’t have access to festivals. For such films, theatrical releases are the only ways to reach the masses, if not them, then streaming platforms become a beacon of hope. But when those distribution channels themselves begin to discriminate, it breeds an unfair system. 

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Kanu Behl has repeatedly spoken on Instagram about how Agrahas been denied adequate shows because mass-market, big-ticket films are given priority. He has made it clear that this fight isn’t just about his own film’s visibility, it is about reclaiming space for all independent cinema that brings global accolades to India but barely reaches its own people. Calling out multiplex chains, then, becomes a way of pushing back against a system that reserves its best slots for mindless, infantilised cinema.

In this battle, 46 independent filmmakers have now joined him. Names like Payal Kapadia, Varun Grover, Alankrita Shrivastava, Vasan Bala, Nandita Das, Raam Reddy, Chaitanya Tamhane, Rima Das, Aarti Kadav, Karan Tejpal, Shonali Bose, Aditya Kripalani, Devashish Makhija, Sounak Sen, and many more have come together in a remarkable moment of solidarity. Their joint statement lays bare a decade-long systemic pattern in Indian distribution! It is not just that films are struggling to get released, but are being treated as though their release itself is a favour, something tokenistic. Theatres don’t treat them as priorities by giving them proper slots and streaming platforms, earlier a democratic front, are now busy only acquiring cinema that shows potential in a theater. 

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It’s a cycle that has become unfair and unavoidable! As these are the very films that represent India at global stage, challenge dominant narratives of mass commercial cinema and elevate the country’s cinematic standing. Yet at home, they lose the battle before it even begins, from facing limited screenings, only morning or weekday shows, or cancellations due to low pre-sales, all of which ensure they never reach their audience.

But I can personally attest to the appetite for such films. When I wrote about Sabar Bonda and Humans in the Loop, I received tons of texts inquiring about how I watched these films because people don't have access to them. The demand clearly exists; what these filmmakers are asking for is not indulgent, it's just a fair chance - a transparent programming system with equal access. Because independent films also deserve as many screens as possible with night and weekend shows or prime slots.

Give audiences the choice - put Agra and De De Pyaar De 2 or Mastiii 4 side by side and let the viewer decide. That is how you measure whether the audience perception is shifting. But if the choice is taken away in advance, based on a presumption that Agra wouldn’t bring in as much profit then the conversation ends before it even starts. And how is that beneficial for our cinematic landscape to grow? Because the fact is that there is space for both to co-exist; we just have to learn to let them!