Film ‘Masoom Sawaal’ starring child artist Nitanshi Goyal and actors Ekavali Khanna, Shishir Sharma, Shashie Verma among others is touted to be based on menstruation and stigma around it.
The film is directed and written by Santosh Upadhyay and produced by Ranjana Upadhyay of Nakshatra 27 Productions, and is slated to release on August 5 in cinemas.
Talking about what prompted her to be a part of this film, actress Ekavali Khanna shares: "When I got the narration from our director, the first thing that appeared to me was that this is a very unusual concept. Despite being a unique story, it was very relatable. Because I personally come from a very evolved family where there is no taboo around menstrual cycle, but I have seen that there's a large part of India where menstruation is such a big deal with so many irrelevant and unsolicited rules.
"Women are treated like an outcast and I personally feel frustrated by it. I felt that it would dawn upon many women in India if a film is being made to break a taboo and advance to change, and I would love to be a part of it."
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Shredding light on how the concept came up, director Santosh Upadhyay said: "In 2014, a girl who was in class 8 came to me and expressed her desire to talk to me in private, away from her parents. Then she asked me, 'Sir! Why do girls get periods?' To be honest, I had no answer for that innocent person. So I asked why was she asking like this."
"Thereafter, I wrote this film about the story she recounted about her house. Even today in a metro city like Delhi, a 14-year-old girl is crying about such a normal thing. It is a misfortune of the country for breeding stigma around menstruation. Inspired by this, I gathered the courage to create this film. Somewhere a spark burnt and I got started with it."
Producer Ranjana Upadhyay added: "It's a film which asks a very big question to the entire society."
