Rahul Roy starrer Agra to premiere at Cannes Film Festival 2023 | Bollywood

Agra, starring Rahul Roy, will have its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival Directors’ Fortnight next month. Written and directed by Kanu Behl, the Hindi film is produced by Saregama India Ltd, UFO Production and O28 Films. It becomes the second Indian film to be nominated for the prestigious French festival after Anurag Kashyap’s Kennedy starring Rahul Bhat and Sunny Leone. Cannes will be held from May 16 to May 27, 2023. (Read also: Rahul Roy Talks Returning To Films After Stroke In 2020: ‘It Was Hard To Shoot’)

Apart from Rahul, Agra also stars Priyanka Bose, who was seen in the Oscar nominee Lion, newcomer Mohit Aggarwal and Rouhani Sharma. Veteran actors Vibha Chibber, Sonal Jha and Aanchal Goswami also play key roles in the feature film. Written by Kanu and Atika Chohan, Agra is an exploration of the sexual dynamics within a family. The film will examine the deep dystopian fractures created in a modern India that is rapidly shrinking into pigeonholes.

In a statement, Rahul shared, “I was so excited when I read the script of Agra because it spoke of things that had been locked inside me for years. As we shot it and I lived every day with my character, I burned and unearthed those knots and the journey became a transformative experience. I am so excited to share this special film with the world.” The actor suffered a stroke in 2020 and will be back with the upcoming film.

Writer-director Kanu added: “Agra was a deeply personal and difficult exploration for me, a deep dive into the inner bowels of desire and male sexual repression and an attempt to understand hoodoo. I am very happy that the film begins The journey at Director’s Fortnight and I hope it opens up a conversation around sexuality and the ‘houses’ we choose to live in as it reaches a wider audience.”

This is the director’s second film to premiere at Cannes. His first film Titli premiered in the Un Certain Regard section in 2014. Agra is the only Indian film selected for the Directors Fortnight. The section highlights independent films from around the world and is a free, non-competitive selection open to all festival-goers. Cedric Kahn’s The Goldman’s Case is the opening film, while Hong Sang-soo’s In Our Day will close the section.

Agra was developed in the PJLF Three Rivers program – in Italy, with the prestigious film fund ‘Cinema du Monde’ supporting it. It was also part of the FBR section of the Viewing Room at NFDC’s Film Bazaar in 2022.