Margarita with a Straw

Margarita, with a Straw (2014) is an Indian film written and directed by Shonali Bose and Nilesh Maniyar.

Kalki Koechlin plays Laila, an intelligent young woman who is gifted in many ways. The only thing that could hold her back is her cerebral palsy. This medical problem is not shown to us as a beautiful young woman with a limp. Laila's body is twisted, she must use a wheelchair, and she needs help in many different ways. She's fiercely independent, but her cerebral palsy keeps getting in the way of her life.

Ultimately, Laila moves to NYC, to go to college. She arrives in the middle of winter. Seeing NYC in winter through a foreigner's eyes was a revelation. The city isn't just cold--it's threatening. However, the first New Yorker with whom Laila interacts is a bus driver in one of NYC's kneeling buses. He is friendly and helpful, and that's a revelation too.

Most of the movie takes place in New York City, and Laila adapts well to her new situation. She succeeds academically, she falls in love, and she's happy. I had expected endless psychological and mechanical obstructions. However, Laila's enthusiasm for life keeps these frustrations at bay. The romantic problems are harder to overcome. How Laila copes with them is the major plot theme.

I need to make special mention of Kalki Koechlin as Leila. She is so convincing as a person with cerebral palsy that I had to check her biography to make sure she did not have this condition. It would be interesting to see an actor with cerebral palsy playing a starring role in a movie. However, Kalki Koechlin doesn't have cerebral palsy. It's hard to imagine how Koechlin could convince us that Leila has cerebral palsy. Koechlin's portrayal shows incredible acting skills. My compliments to her on her great performance!

We saw this movie on the large screen as part of ImageOut, the superb Rochester LGBT Film Festival. It will work almost as well on the small screen.

This film teaches us that irrespective of whatever condition you are born with- being blind or having cerebral palsy or whatever event happens in your life which changes your life's circumstance, you should attempt to not be low on self confidence and self esteem and you have every right to command respect as an individual in your own right, have fun in your own way ie whatever your natural self desires to do and have a positive attitude to everything in life. The question is of whether you are able to be an individual who can follow his or her desire to the fullest as you rightfully should be able to without worrying about its consequences on other people close to you or worrying but making effort to tackle the same truthfully honestly or are you an individual who compromises and sacrifices for others and controls oneself from fulfilling his or her complete desires. The film specifically reveals the reality of natural sexual desire which is there in all human beings but that desire can be anything and being a homosexual, lesbian or bisexual isn't really a crime as many think of it but is an individual preference. This preference is sometimes not easily acceptable by the individual or the society as we have pre conceived notions about what we consider normal and what we don't. There is nothing wrong in that as thats probably wired into our brains but on thinking we should be able to accept what is not normal as well and let individuals just BE!

Overall good acting by Kalki and a good watch.

I went to see this film because the last Kalki Koechlin film I viewed called The Girl With the Yellow Boots was very impressive. As was this film. It started innocently enough. Demonstrating Kalki's extraordinary acting ability.

The story was very precious and demonstrated how somebody with the lead characters challenges still strives to have a normal life. And id doing so it became apparent that even with her physical disability she is able to lead a normal and filling life.

Possibly even more so then people who are able bodied.

It we actually a very beautiful film. The film style which was very simplistic actually made it very believable. I will definitely see another Kalki Koechlin film and I can only hope that it is as good as Margarita with a Straw.

#MargaritaWithAStraw : A Sonali Bose film, starring Kalki Koechlin, Revathi & Sayani Gupta. The film describes an abnormal person's life, her relationship with her mom, her boyfriend, her normal friends, her foreign tour, her classmate, her gay partner, & at last with her, too. Sonali explains every situation very politely. This film is surely not a cup of tea for many viewers who love masala movies. This film made you to think, to love yourself, to enjoy life without any fear of being criticize. So, stop judging and enjoy the life! Surely watchable in the theater. But, only interested one can go, otherwise those kind of people who pass comments (if you are in this category, please don't go. Because you have to be keep quiet while watching.) may spoil others mood. So, enjoy the movie and at last, cheers to Kalki!

Quoting in a broader sense, there are 3 kinds of actors: 1. Humans who make great actors 2. Actors who make great humans And the 3rd...........? Book a show of "Margarita With a Straw" to experience the 3rd kind called Kalki Koechlin. In a snap you'll confront to the prowess & virtuosity of this super-skilled woman only to fall in love with her (again). 'Laila' will instantly conquer your heart with her eyes & body language. It is tough to imagine people with cerebral palsy. What's tougher is to admire & respect their choices around their sexuality & life in general. And MWAS's vulgar-free modus operandi enables us to do this. The subtle-yet-bold performance from Kalki & her journey of discovering her sexual choices is substantial & heart-warming at the same time. Overall, in a society like ours where we witness a cocktail of strong opinions, it might just be a liberating escapade to have Shonali Bose's Margarita.......With a Straw! smile emoticon ‪#‎margaritawithastraw‬ ‪#‎bollywood‬