Venue: PVR Saket
Date: Apr 25, 2015

The promos of ‘Margarita with a straw’ have been doing the rounds for a while. It suggested that this is a film about a person with special needs. When we saw the film, we were pleasantly surprised to note that it had more to offer than talking about a person with cerebral palsy.

It is about a young girl Laila, who is dealing with her crushes / heart breaks / career choices more than her wheelchair bound life. Kalki Koechlin as Laila owns the film. She has never been seen in such an author backed role. Her delivery displays a lot of sincerity and it is evident that she has done her homework right.  She does not let the character fall in the sorry zone of a person with disabilities. For a lot of audience a film works when it makes them laugh as well as cry and they relate the film to their lives. Kalki did all this without going over the top. We had seen her subdued acting style in plays and are happy to note that she maintains this in the cinema as well.

It is always good to see Revathy on screen after a hiatus of a few years. Her talents have never been duly tapped by Bollywood. She played Kalki’s mother Shubhangini and the character is warm, understanding  and yet the strong support that mothers often provide.  The other actors ably supported the lead cast by underplaying their characters beautifully.

We are especially impressed by Khanum played by Sayani Gupta, the live in partner of Kalki in this film. This portion about Kalki’s affair with a girl shows strong shades of ‘Blue is the Warmest Colour’. It reiterates that infidelity can spoil a relationship – straight or gay.

The few songs that the film has don’t feel imposed. They are just good enough to support the film without standing out on their own.

Despite cerebral palsy’s and mother’s cancer and break ups the film ends on a positive note when Kalki goes on a date with herself. It reiterates that if you love yourself nothing else matters.

P.S. We love it whenever we see Delhi on celluloid. The unostentatious depiction of the “sprout sculpture” at INA or the north campus earned the film brownie points from us.