I was approached by the NGO Dasra to direct this film. They in association with the Gates Foundation were keen to make a film where men are involved in the conversation about Menstrual Hygiene. So my writer, Ishani Banerji (Aligarh) came up with the story for the film and then we read a lot of data on the issue and became super sensitized and aware of it and went ahead with this film. Ishani and I were given a brief and that was that men needed to be a part of the conversation about Menstrual Hygiene so that it could be a universal conversation and not just a conversation about ‘shame and whispers’ amongst women.

We decided to flip the concept and write a story about a surreal dystopian place where only men exist and they have periods and how amazingly and efficiently they deal with it. We wanted that comparison against a normal world to be striking and stunning and hard hitting. It was initially daunting to work with kids on a film with this topic. They had a very flimsy and basic knowledge about menstruation. I requested their parents to inform them about the issue before I started shooting with them. Once they understood the issue they were very confident and spontaneous. Kids are amazing to work with and as a Director I look forward to working with kids, more and more.

In my first film, Zubaan I worked with a child actor as well and it was a real pleasure. I feel the best way to remove the taboos associated with menstruation is to normalize the issue, to make people understand that it is something that is a normal bodily function for women and to provide the right kind of infrastructure and medical aid for all those who have suffered from it. That’s the point of this film.

Also, Twinkle’s support has been incredible for the film. Twinkle was the first person I shared the film with once it was done and she was instantly supportive. She loved the film and thought it was emphatic and she decided to come on board to launch it. Her support will help the film reach far and wide and that would be amazing for the issue at hand. She has written a beautiful story in her book about this issue and made a feature film on it and has been a very inspiring voice in the conversation about menstrual hygiene. I’m eternally grateful to her for having supported First Period. The film has got a tremendous response since its release yesterday and I’m getting messages from all over the world saying that the message of the film is extremely powerful. So I think we have made the right impact... Everyone needs to know that menstrual hygiene is a very serious issue and that it needs to be dealt with.