FROM TWINKLE, WITH LOVE

Aspiring filmmaker Twinkle Mehra fills her journal with entries addressed to her favorite female movie directors, among them Mira Nair, Sofia Coppola, Nora Ephron, and Ava DuVernay.

Shy, 16-year-old Twinkle received the journal as a gift from her unconditionally supportive (and highly eccentric) dadi, or paternal grandmother, who urged her to use it to express her innermost heartfelt thoughts. Twinkle navigates film school aspirations, which she believes are unattainable due to her working-class family’s financial situation; an unrequited crush on Neil Roy, a half white, half Indian boy who is the big man on campus; a changing relationship with her former best friend, Maddie Tanaka, who is now hanging out with a wealthy, cool crowd; and an unexpected and confusing relationship with fellow film geek Sahil Roy, Neil’s awkward and less-noticeable identical twin brother. Twinkle sees embarking on a project for a local film festival with Sahil as a way to become close to Neil, realize her romantic ambitions, and thus improve her social standing at school. When she begins receiving admiring emails signed only “N,” she assumes her mystery fan to be Neil; however, Sahil has long had his eye on Twinkle— and the true identity of her anonymous fan becomes a tantalizing mystery.

Menon’s (When Dimple Met Rishi, 2017) sophomore effort is a charming and sophisticated rom-com that outshines her previous outing.