The bad bi rep is one thing but casting a het, non-disabled actor in this role really takes the biscuit.

Extreme bollywood cringe warning

absolutely touching!!!

Kalki Koechlin's best acting till date.

What a film. Sweet and emotional story. Great acting by Kalki. She's very underrated actress.

One of my favourite films of all time. Beautifully accentuates the wonder and agony of different kinds of love, whilst being a young woman, trying to find herself.

A beautiful film and a beautiful story about acceptance. The lead actress, Kalki Koechlin, was brilliant as a girl with cerebral palsy seeking her place in the world. I truly believed she was afflicted with the condition. Her performance was impeccable. And her smile was radiant. I fell in love with her character. Be prepared for an emotional ride.

I loved this movie! For me, the first half of the movie was delightful.I was often filled with joy as I watched Laila finding herself and exploring her sexuality, along with other aspects of her life. When she met Khanum and they became lovers, I was so happy! The second half of the movie was darker, dealing with loss and betrayal. But it was still excellent, and I very much enjoyed it, even though the ending wasn't what I would have chosen. But it was appropriate and consistent with the overall story arc. The fact that this wonderful movie didn't get nominated for a single Oscar says a lot about the Hollywood movie industry. Just because a movie was made for less than a million dollars doesn't mean it isn't brilliant. And this one is.

Powerful story about a special woman

Kalki was flawless, and it seriously does not get better.. Beautifully crafted, excellent storyline, direction, acting, dialogue delivery.. Really meaningful..

A girl with cerebral palsy discovers her sexuality when she moves away from home and meets a blind lesbian at college in New York. Oh, and her family is loving but quirky (Her father is a Sardar, and her mother a South Indian). If all of this sounds too indie for words, frankly, it is - but the film has been made with such love and sincerity that it feels authentic. The performances are heartfelt, led by an exceptional Kalki Koechlin. Extra points for a perfect ending.

A lot of bollywood movies are making the headlines nowadays, for bringing content and quality to mainstream cinema. From Piku to Tanu Weds Manu to Dil Dhadakne Do, a lot of movies are being embraced by critics and audiences alike. but one movie has gone in this midst, without creating much hype or moolah. A movie which won my heart and is, in my opinion, the best film I have seen this year - MARGARITA WITH A STRAW This gem of a film, directed ambitiously by Shonali Bose (of Amu fame) and starring Kalki Koechlin, is about the life of a young Delhi girl Laila (Kalki), who also happens to suffer from cerebral palsy, making her wheelchair bound. After facing rejection from a crush she had in college, she moves to New York with her mother (Ravathi) and starts life afresh. In Manhattan, she meets and starts a relationship with a blind Pakistani student Khanum (Sayani Gupta). How she goes through various ups and downs in her life forms the rest of the story. This is no ordinary story about a girl fighting disability. In fact, Laila doesn't fight her disability. She accepts it a part of who she is and moves forward. She is a normal girl with normal quirks. She writes lyrics for a band in college and also has a friends-with-benefits relationship with her disabled friend. And from a radical change from contemporary Indian heroine, she even masturbates watching porn! What more could you want! The subtle humor is also endearing, one of them being when Laila tries to explain to her mother that she is bisexual. Director Shonali Bose has adopted a pristine simplicity while handling a concept this complicated. It could easily have gotten messed up, but it doesn't. The screenplay is taut and even emotions are not overplayed, giving it authenticity and heft. Even the sex scenes have been given aesthetically shot,which is a rarity in Hindi cinema( read Emraan Hashmi-Sunny Leone films). But M/s Bose's biggest achievement is her portrayal of the relationship between Laila and her mother. Of course, it doesn't hurt having two great actors, but she still deserves credit for deftly handling that complex relationship, without having many overt emotional packages. Their love is an ode to all mothers. :) The music by Micky Mcleary is also worth mentioning. It is not by any means path-breaking, but it flows along with the story without any hindering and conveys the emotions quite well. Good job. But what makes this movie tick is its performances. From Kuljeet Singh as Laila's father to William Moseley as Jared, the supporting cast plays their parts to perfection. The surprise however has been Sayani Gupta as Khanum. She plays the blind girl to perfection. Even the subtle nuances in her character and her independent and fierce spirit has been captured excellently on screen. Revathi has time and again proved her acting chops in the South Indian Film industry and as Shubhangini, Laila's mother, she has yet again proved her mettle. From the initial shots where she is taking her husband off to work and Laila to college, she shows a rare command over her character. Her eyes and the lines on her face suggest her struggles and hardships. But it was her relationship with her daughter that won me over. so beautiful and so pure........ But the star of the show is Kalki. She excels as Laila. She has gotten into the skin of her character and made it her own. Her smiles, laughter, quirkiness, anger, indignation, regret have all been so wonderfully portrayed. Easily the best performance I have seen till date, this year. She has come a long way. Yes, the movie has its flaws, a little too much of coincidence and a chopy climax, to name a few. But it would be nitpicking and does nothing to take away from the fact that this is an excellent film. I have long yearned for a film which celebrates its women, portraying them without prejudices. Last year it was Queen... this year it is..... A girl watching porn and masturbating; two disabled people making out; A wheelchair bound girl and blind girl having sex; portraying an Indian girl to be bisexual. Hindi cinema has indeed come a long way in its portrayal of women! Good days are ahead.

Simple, Elegant and Effective... Margarita with a straw efficiently brings out the nuances of uncomfortable situations that its characters go through... Kalki and Revathy give brilliantly underplayed performances...

Add seven parts of tequila, four parts of cointreau and three parts of some tangy lime juice and throw in a straw, that is 'Margarita with a straw' for you. It is a film about a lot of unexplored themes in Bollywood, a film about disability, sexuality and breaking cliches, and yet one that makes you feel like it is about everything normal. It is everything but a film to educate the audience about disability and kindle a feeling of pity, which is the case with most Indian films on this topic. Though the film is quite an intense drama and had the entire theatre in pin-drop silence, little elements of 'Desi'ness like a Punjabi father who yearns for Butter Chicken, a south Indian mother who likes classical music, young sibling Monu who watches cricket add the usual Bollywood touches. Unfortunately, the second half and the extremely open ended climax do not do justice to the film. With an exceptional performance playing Laila, a girl of late teens affected by cerebral palsy, Kalki Koechlin simply blends into the character and there is not one moment in the film where her disability obstructs your feeling one with her. Revathi plays a lovable mom (Aai) that every girl wishes for. Bold attempt by director Shonali Bose, wish the plot could have been simpler. This weekend, ditch the Margarita in the pub and grab it in the cinemas instead. It probably will leave you with a hangover. ?#?MovieReview? ?#?MargaritaWithAStraw?

t was a overflow of emotion to see things that one goes through expressed in form of a motion picture. For the first time in the history of Indian Films comes a movie that explores the desires, feelings and sexual expressions of people with disability, it speaks for how they think of themselves as no different or lesser beings, more so because they would have already overcome the disabilities that other hold on to. To consider them as lesser beings is meaner depletion than differentiating on the basis of religion, race or caste, or must I say it's actually worse. Margarita with a Straw criticises the hypocritical mindset and lack of understanding and insensitive infrastructural apathy in India that has been a hurdle to inclusion. How only the family and some prized friends are the only ray of hope in the darkness. It also brings to our focus a pathetic mindset that is in the rise in the deep pockets of our social fabrics: they are not like us, they should not dare think of themselves as equals. I myself have been subjected to belittling time to time- that has helped remind me that there is a condition that I have, which despite being infrastructure inspired is inadvertently indented up on me as a fault of mine. Most people in the sense of false physical superiority forget that a person only has a limitation- disability is with those minds that can see no further than the limitation and also with the infrastructure that has been, if at all anything, negligently indifferent. Having spoken for the message it intended to convey, the film- first of all is a brilliant incident of superb acting skills at display, a rarity for Indian films. Kalki has perhaps left behind Naseeruddin Shah and some other stalwarts who have portrayed a person with disability in past. Sayani Gupta too was extraordinary in her rendition of a girl with vision disability. Revathi was the best in the lot though. The director had a sparkling and straightforward vision and smooth narratives in place for a script that, must I say, lacked grandeur from content's prospective. The story was found wanting in exploring some true but harsh social aspects of disability. Not to mention I found it a bit aimless time and again. The troubles, social and infrastructural, have been brought forward but in a rather too subtle a style. Social constrains and how the emotional ambitions of people with disability is ruthlessly curbed by some unconcerned of people living ignorantly in our society has not be explored much. A drastic contrast is rendered through a comparison of accommodating capacity with us and that of the West through a case of expression and acceptance of love of/for a disabled as an affection.

There's a lot to appreciate about the inspiring coming-of-age drama "Margarita With a Straw" despite several seemingly avoidable flaws. It helps that the cast, especially the remarkable Koechlin who gives a bravura performance in both physical and emotional terms, can carry it all off.