Kanika Dhillon

I did not have any Bollywood connection and it was difficult to find a footing in the industry. But I was pleasantly surprised when Red Chillies hired a newcomer like me.

We are living in a world where image is important and we feel the need to confirm to a standard of what beauty is and how beauty should look like. We look at the billboard, and feel something is lacking in us.

I was 17 when I wrote a collection of short stories and wanted it published but it didn't happen. A lot of publishing houses don't allow young authors to enter into writing segments.

Size Zero' tells the story of a woman and the challenges and body shaming that she faces on a daily basis. I wrote the dialogues of that film, and I was approached for a remake. But I had already said what I wanted to say.

Usually superheroes with all their powers and action-driven narratives are supposed to appeal to boys and men more than women; and as an extension of that, it is a given that the creators of these characters are primarily men.

In a film we have limited time and space to say what we have to, hence the visual language and brevity needs to be paramount. In a novel, however, we can dissect each thought and emotion and build on it.

A novel compared to film writing can allow the author to be more indulgent, and that extends to the characters and the story being told.

I joined Red Chillies entertainment right after I returned from the London School of Economics in 2007.

The reason I choose not to speak about my husband is because the press is prone to erase the individual identities of women who work in the industry. I don't want that to happen to me.

As a director you have to live and breathe that one story for 8 months completely. I like variety, if I write extensively I get a writer's block so I do something else to beat the boredom and then get back to something I've already done.

Deep poignant pathos can be described better in dark humour.

In fact, the only way to inspire people to embrace change is through setting a narrative and telling a story. It can be central to innovation and change, and at the same time it can preserve tradition and memories.

Poetry and prose can start a revolution, break walls, and ideas can build nations.

Telling a story is an emotional and personal experience for me and I can't do without it.

If I start playing by the rules, I will inhibit myself of the possibilities that lie beyond. I don't like to be framed or given borders to operate in or curtail my thought process and as a writer it's not only my choice but also my need to go beyond the given framework.

Censorship, by definition, is suppression of objectionable material that can be harmful or inconvenient. Since when has it become inconvenient or dangerous for a young woman to be confused in love?

I come from a Punjab and a community that has taught me that art is meant to be challenging, infuriating and thought provoking.

I have grown up on a staple diet of love stories. But, soon I realised it is not so rosy or divine. It is painful, selfish and ugly. Love is the biggest curse of this generation!

All writers are battling and fighting as to how a woman should be characterised.

There is no greater agony than carrying the burden of an untold story.

Yes, I enjoyed my share of fantasy fiction series and comics. Among superheroes, Spiderman was my favorite. I always had this fascination for costume-clad vigilante who would come and save the day!

Ambition alone cannot define a progressive female character.

I want to be a proud daughter of Punjab. Celebrate my roots - fly, flourish, write stories, characters. Don't hold me and my voice to ransom. Enable me, don't disable me!

Everyone is hungry for content and you are content creators and if you are not negotiating a good price no Robinhood is coming to save you.

If my stories make people uncomfortable, because it questions your set ideas and value systems that are convenient for a group of people or ideas that promote patriarchy and religious fanaticism, then my job as an artiste and a writer is done. The more you will cry foul, the louder my characters will speak.