Tahira Kashyap Khurrana on period blood scene in ‘Sharmajee Ki Beti’: ‘Trolls telling me it’s against our culture’ | Exclusive

Tahira Kashyap Khurrana with Arista Mehta, Vanshika Taparia Pic/Instagram

If you still haven't watched ‘Sharmajee Ki Beti' you're missing out on several important issues in the Tahira Kashyap Khurrana directorial. A hilarious conversation around periods for starters is what makes this a fun watch, even with your kids! Tahira, who marks her feature debut with this celluloid that was released on Amazon Prime Video, speaks exclusively to mid-day.com on including a scene that shows actual period blood stains and not blue ink and how she was asked to remove it and trolled for the same.

For those unversed, the scene in question is between Swati Sharma (Vanshika Taparia) and Gurveen Sharma (Arista Mehta) as the former finally gets her period during a lunch break at school leaving her ecstatic. A very visible red stain is shown on her uniform, which was a first for many viewers who had tuned in to watch the film. When asked how she made sure the scene remained sans any cuts, Tahira explained, "We've seen red stains. It is not somehow palatable. Showing blood is not acceptable. A few trolls on my social media have sent me that, ‘How can you show, yeh toh bohot badtameezi wali baat hai, this is against our culture to show girls talking about periods, and then you go on to show us stain'."

She adds, "The idea at the same time was very honestly the space from which I work, I understand the prejudice, the patriarchy, everybody is a product of their circumstances. So I will not put you down but I would want to feed you some information that is palatable and will make you smile and not cringe. And if I have been able to do that, that's my biggest win."

Tahira reveals she was asked not to have the scene. "I was told, ‘Let's not have this scene,' I was like, ‘No let's show it for what it is, it is a state, it is period. We have talked about this now let's move on in life. We've all had stains. It's just not girls, it's the boys who need to be sensitized towards women and the physiology and the biology that they have in order to comprehend them empathize with them, and cherish them," concludes the filmmaker.