Margarita With A Straw – Film Review
Kalki Koechlin as Laila is as Real as it can get !
Film : Margarita with a straw
Producer : Shonali Bose , Nilesh Maniyar
Director : Shonali Bose
Cast : Kalki Koechlin, Sayani Gupta, Revathy
Rating : 
Wow ! What a day it has been ! Three back to back films having altogether different genres, but equally well crafted & executed. Shonali Bose’s Margarita with a straw has that rare endearing quality about her characters which are very easy to dwell upon and cherish all the more. Margarita’s central protagonist portrayed by Kalki Koechlin, an aspiring writer and an electronic music creator is suffering from cerebral palsy. A case study so astutely & touchingly imbibed & personified that you start living with the character. Besides the storyline revolving around Laila’s aspirations and longings for a regular lifestyle her age, Shonali has involved the delicacies , helplessness , frustrations and niceties surrounding such cases of handicap. And what a mind blowing and touching portrayal by Kalki, you have just got to watch it to believe it. Half of the time she is expressing through her lovely talking eyes. Those moments of Love, Lust, Agony, Desperation, Frustration, helplessness is a treat indeed. Kalki seems to have observed and absorbed the cases of cerebral palsy to such minute details that she virtually lives the role. On the other hand to complement her caliber Sayani Gupta a volatile young activist, has put in a very spirited act . She is beautiful & Laila bonds with her & gets to explore sexual preferences with natural ease.
There are some silent moments & than some emotional explodes when they are together in New York and back in India which are handled very delicately. Revathy as the mother of Laila has delivered a near picture perfect performance. She has displayed the maturity of a veteran artiste who lives with the whims and fancies of her beautiful darling of a daughter with the fervor of a possessed mother. She does it so effortlessly that you just play along.
Shonali Bose sends across a very strong message that everyone is a God’s creation and irrespective of their physical or mental faculties can lead a life of their choice. Life has so much to offer that it is upto you as to how much you can stake a claim to and achieve it.
Kalki Koechlin as Laila in Margarita with a straw is an endearingly endearing, wholesome and all consuming cinema ! Worth lapping it up !!!
