'As a Kid I Had More Complaints For My Mom Than My Dad': Tahira Kashyap

Tahira Kashyap's latest film 'Sharmajee Ki Beti' premiered on 28 June.

Tahira Kashyap speaks to The Quint.

(Photo Courtesy: The Quint)

Filmmaker Tahira Kashyap's latest film Sharmajee Ki Beti, premiered on Amazon Prime Video on 28 June and has been receiving a largely positive response from viewers.

The Quint caught up with Tahira to speak to her about her film, how she wrote it seven years ago, experiences in the film that are borrowed from her life, moving to Mumbai from Chandigarh, the responsibility of a filmmaker, and more.

Speaking about the instances that are borrowed from her life for the film, Tahira shared, "Lots of them. The first film, I think is the closest to your heart. It comes from a place of experience and deep observation. When it came to that progressive, nuclear family of Jyoti, Sudhir and the daughter - I empathise with the daughter. I was the last one in my class to get my periods. And I genuinely faked it. There was a music room session and everyone was discussing about pads and how painful the periods are. But I had no clue. I didn't know what does it feel like. And they asked me, 'When did you get them?' So I faked it. You know, I tried to make the conversation about pads, vagina and periods very normal in the film."

Speaking about the responsibility a storyteller has, Tahira further told The Quint, "I feel it's a country, it's a place where there's democracy, so there should be freedom of speech and expression. However, I can talk about myself and the kind of work that I intend to do. I would always want to make a film that lands really well with people and entertains them. But at the same time, will it be at the cost of pushing the movement back which so many people before us used to open the doors for us. Will my movies take us a few steps back? No. My intention would be to push that movement a little further and further."

Watch the video for more.

Video Editor: Arnab Chakraborty