Kanika Dhillon

“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 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!”

“Even if you are a superstar, you have to give your audience some content. Because there is so much good content out there that people consume today. To sustain this, you have to nurture good content and writers.”

“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.”

“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.”

“As a woman, sometimes when I am in discussion with a director or producer, there is some kind of a different politics happening. Basically, 'I know more than you'. I am always on the lookout for that. I don't want to get sucked into that. I am very quick to respond to that.”

“I wrote three stories on spec because I didn't have the patience to convince people I could write.”

“You can be imaginative, you have the technology to convert your vision, you have the freedom to write the kind of stories you want to tell beyond the set formulas. Also, you have varied platforms to tell different kinds of stories.”

“I don't think in genres. Once I get a germ of an idea I wait for it to die! And if it refuses to die and keeps coming back, I start thinking more about it. Then come the world and the characters. I wait to get bored and if I don't get bored- then I start building on them.”

“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.”

“I am happy writing and being a producer not a director.”

“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.”

“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?”

“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.”

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

“Ambition alone cannot define a progressive female character.”

“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.”

“I took six months to rehearse how I'd ask Shah Rukh Khan if he would launch my debut novel. I thought of 100 ways to ask him. Finally, three weeks before the book hit the stands I went to pop the question and forgot everything I rehearsed.”

“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.”

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