Khurrana’s bahu presents Sharmajee Ki Beti

Nonika Singh

If Tahira Kashyap Khurrana still reads the other half of superstar Ayushmann Khurrana, take a break. Once more, this Chandigarh ki beti is basking in the glory very much of her own making. As her debut feature film Sharmajee Ki Beti streams on Amazon Prime Video and opens to favourable responses, she shares her best/worst critic is her family, also her biggest cheerleaders. When Ayushmann, who has been part of the process and despite having read all of her drafts, saw the first edit of the film, smiled, laughed and had tears in his eyes too, she knew, “I am in safe zone.”

But if you think being a star wife has made her journey any less arduous, you couldn’t be more wrong. For one she doesn’t know, what are the qualifications for being a member of the star wives club? Had she taken a piggyback ride on her husband’s stardom or opted for the short-cut to success, the film, which she wrote seven years ago, would have been made long ago. And by now, she would have had several feature films to her credit.

Going back in time when she pitched her film, she was inundated by several suggestions; throw in a romantic track, have A-list actors, song sequence and much more. But she stuck to her guns and when Applause Entertainment came on board, they didn’t change a thing. Precisely why her characters remain all so relatable in this slice-of-life film. Indeed, as is with all first-time directors, her story came from a personal experiential space. Not that the film is biographical or a memoir. Rather there are bits and pieces of both herself and her family.

When Sakshi Tanwar as Jyoti talks about how women need not be apologetic about their ambitions, it’s not just Tahira talking. Rather it’s her observations, especially what she saw in her nuclear family where both her parents worked and divided roles and responsibilities equally. Look at Divya Dutta’s character, a woman from Patiala, adjusting to the fast pace of Mumbai. Tahira recalls how she too was blown away by the frantic tempo of Mumbai, where not even one square foot of space is empty and even a dog, cat, a rat and human being can coexist in the same place! Today, she is very much in sync with this city of dreams. As a dialogue in the film goes.. there is a thin line between dreams and reality, isn’t that a rose-tinted view of life? She says, “We all come from our own perspectives, shaped by our experiences. Life is as complex as you make it.”

And she would rather take a light-hearted approach to life and cinema too. Thus, while addressing the taboo subject of menstrual cycle, she turns the whole issue around in a humorous fashion. One of her young teenage characters, Swati, yearns for her periods to begin. Through this piquant obsession of Swati, the writer-director in Tahira wanted to break down the hush-hush around menstruation. She shares how there was a huge debate between the stakeholders of the film — whether they should show the blood stain or not. Tahira prevailed.

I want to dabble in all genres, from horror to dramedy to romance, but whatever films I make women will never be objects, they will have something to say and tell. I would not want my gender to be reduced to an item.

Whether women directors have a more organic understanding of women’s issues, she hopes the day would arrive soon when classifications such as women-centric films et al cease to exist. She, who has made several delectable short films like Toffee and Pinni, would not follow any categorisation and feels all formats are equally important. A woman of many shades, author of books, writer director, Instagrammer there is no way you can box her either… Like the many faces of feminism in her film, she ‘unlocks her potential’ in myriad ways. 

No limiting her vision

While writing her film, Tahira Kashyap Khurrana does not have actors in her mind for their physicality would limit her vision of the characters. But, yes, if she were to ever direct her man Ayushmann, she would certainly have to come up with a humdinger of a script, which would justify his immense talent. Born and raised in a progressive household of City Beautiful, as Tahira looked around she realised her normal wasn’t so for others. She adds, “That is when the questioning began and the storyteller in me was born out of that inquisitive mind.”