Teen Diary

As a teenager,I was plump and cranky,was constantly made fun of,poor at studies,couldn’t play any sport because of being overweight and had a bunch of loser friends. I was also the least popular in school. In short,life was pretty boring. Growing up in the outskirts of Kolkata,in a convent setting and with minimum facilities did not add to the excitement either. I wasn’t fashionable at all. I always oiled my hair,did not wax till college and was just happy spending time with my friends making fun of everyone else. It was only when I realised that I was being loserly and miserable,I turned the tide in my favour by laughing at myself. I became the clown and the laughing stock of the class,and that is how I became popular among my friends.

When I began writing my film,the most important thing was to shed all inhibitions and dive into my life and bring out the best and the most memorable anecdotes. I did not want to try and appear cool,because I knew that none of us had cool teenage lives. So I even borrowed the characters and characteristics from people in my real life. Teenage was also about sharing those little secrets with your close friends. My best friend Aanchal and I used to also have these talks with a few sexual connotations.

When I was growing up,the most embarrassing aspects of my life was when my mother often declared my “growing up” in front of others. There were times when we would be in a gathering and my mum would look at me and loudly shout,“Kahin tere periods toh nahin start huye (Haven’t your periods started?),” and I would want to bury my face somewhere. There was also a time when we were with a few friends and she looked at me and said,‘I think tujhe bra ki zaroorat hai!’ (I think you need a bra).” Anecdotes like these and many more have made it to my film.