Agra is bizarre, even ambitiously so, because the movie strikes between being disturbing and simply plain odd, it does not totally land on both aspect, observes Mayur Sanap.

Kanu Behl’s Agra just isn’t a standard movie that may be judged simply.

The director had earlier hinted at his distinctive strategy along with his debut characteristic Titli, an unsettling portrait of a dysfunctional household, adopted by Despatch, which delves into the fractured psyche of a journalist, performed by Manoj Bajpayee.

His newest work, Agra, carries the unsettling temper simply as Titli did, with thematic similarities in exploring household dynamics and their imprint on a younger thoughts.

Behl turns inward with Agra, providing a startling examine of repressed wishes and their lasting affect on one’s thoughts.

In that sense, the title is not precisely delicate because it attracts a transparent parallel between the creeping insanity of its many characters and town’s reputation for housing a psychological asylum.

That famed Taj Mahal, although, finds no place right here, neither in spirit nor in story.

 

The movie focuses on Guru (Mohit Agrawal), a 25-year-old man who needs intercourse however by no means has it.

He works at a name centre and spends most of his free time within the digital world of courting apps and intercourse chat to fulfill his cravings.

He lives in a dilapidated home along with his household, the place its slender partitions and cramped rooms push the household continually at odds with each other.

Guru shares a room along with his mom (Vibha Chibber), who’s perpetually exasperated by his ill-mannered behaviour.

Presiding over the family is Daddyji (Rahul Roy), who lives upstairs along with his mistress, a girl everybody pointedly refers to as Aunty (Sonal Jha).

Guru goals of marriage and imagines a brand new life in a small room he hopes to construct for his future spouse in the identical home.

However his mom has completely different plans.

She needs to show the rooftop right into a clinic for her dentist daughter (Aanchal Goswami) to follow in.

Guru’s life takes an surprising flip when he meets Priti (Priyanka Bose), an older, bodily challenged lady who runs an Web cafe. A passionate affair begins between them, resulting in plans of marriage.

The household is distraught upon discovering Daddyji‘s affair with one other lady.

They develop anxious upon realising he intends to promote the home and transfer in along with his new associate. His resolution might probably go away all of them homeless.

Behl and co-writer Atika Chohan (Chhapaak) craft a household drama that originally performs out like a black comedy however progressively reveals itself as a disturbing character examine of how repression and unresolved trauma can spiral right into a manic state.

The director performs with our senses, as he captures the unsettling journey into the abyss of the thoughts of the troubled protagonist with a way of unease.

Guru, in that sense, feels much like Shashank Arora’s titular character in Titli and even Shutu from Konkona Sensharma’s chic A Dying within the Gunj.

There are a number of psychological shocks that mirror Guru’s gradual psychological decline, proven by way of a number of daring and specific scenes. It’s simple to think about the censor board having a tricky time with this one!

For a movie that depicts intercourse, there’s nothing attractive about it. Neither is it sensual.

Relatively, it’s decidedly provocative, however in its personal tormented method.

At one level, a tense second unfolds between Guru and his sister. What begins as her try to consolation him quickly turns uncomfortable.

It is to indicate his emotional battle and simply how lonely he has change into.

Agra is bizarre, even ambitiously so, because the movie strikes between being disturbing and simply plain odd, it does not totally land on both aspect.

The performances from the well-put collectively forged, particularly of the debutant Mohit Agarwal is totally plausible, however the psychological chaos feels messy reasonably than shifting, making it onerous to attach with any of the characters.

The ending feels anti-climactic, closing on an open be aware much like Fahadh Faasil’s did that truly occur? second in Trance.

However a lot of it solely works on the floor and does not go away an enduring affect.

Sure, Behl nonetheless tries to play with our minds as he typically does, nevertheless it’s finished with out the sharpness or depth to really go away a mark.

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