First Period: After Pad Man, Twinkle Khanna to support another film on menstruation

She ventured into production with Pad Man that revolved around the subject of menstrual hygiene and now columnist and author, Twinkle Khanna, has come forward to support a short film, First Period. It is written and directed by Mozez Singh, who had made the film Zubaan (2016) earlier. She will launch the short across social media, today, on World Menstrual Day. The film deals with the sensitive subject of the day of the first period from a boy’s viewpoint and shows a world where women don’t exist, and the tables are flipped. 

Says Mozez, “When I was approached by Dasra, the NGO behind the film alongside The Gates Foundation, their brief was they wanted men to be involved in the conversation about menstrual hygiene. So, we wrote a script where we showed everything from a man’s point of view and how in that world it’s all perfect and empowering. It raises the question why can’t this happen in a woman’s world and forces you to neutralise gender disparity. First Period is another voice in that conversation.”

While working on the movie, the filmmaker decided to take Twinkle’s feedback on it because he believes she is largely responsible for making menstrual hygiene a topic of conversation with her book and film. 

Once the short was ready, the filmmaker showed it to Twinkle, who was impressed with it. “She felt the film made a solid and forceful point and she offered her support immediately. I remain indebted to her,” says Mozez gratefully.