Margarita With A Straw

The best movies tell stories that leave an aftertaste. Margarita With A Straw is that film. The taste lingers on long after you have watched it and mulled over the story again and again. That’s because Margarita With A Straw (MWAS for short) tells you so many untold stories.It is that rare film in Bollywood where the lead is played by a woman and that too with no male lead to support. The protagonist is wheelchair bound. The film discusses female sexuality and gays not in whispered subtle references but without changing the tone or pitch of the narrative. There is one more aspect of the story that is a bold choice, but if I told you what that was, it would be a spoiler. By telling so many untold stories in one film, Shonali Bose, has written and directed a film that does not end in the movie hall. It keeps playing in your mind long after you have come back home.https://youtu.be/YORjJiWBxAgThe story is about Laila who has cerebral palsy and is wheelchair bound. But her mind is any other college going girl. She writes lyrics and is part of a rock band in Ramjas College in Delhi University. She uses the word Duskote (Assamese for eyes) in the lyrics to catch the attention of the Assamese boy who is the band’s lead singer. When their band wins the competition, and the judge announces that the song “had to” win simply because the lyricist was differently abled. Laila does not want a sympathy vote and stomps off.Check out the original Assamese version of the song composed by Joi Barua.https://youtu.be/y9sMvWujT_ULaila gets a scholarship to learn creative writing in New York. She arrives at the city and discovers a new world through the eyes of a visually impaired girl Khanum. Laila moves in with Khanum and that’s where the story takes unexpected bends like an unexpected jungle brook.Kalki Koechlin as Laila is superb - simply superb. Never for a minute do you feel that Kalki is playing a character in a film called Laila. She is Laila. Her silent laughs or guffaws are as powerful as her heartbreaks and disappointment as her world collides with the others. Her fears and dreams and above all her curious mind lead her to constantly challenge her own boundaries. Veteran actor Revathy plays Laila's mother. She is courageous and afraid at the same time. She is bewildered like any other mother when she discovers porn sites in Laila’s web history. The other actor who grabs attention is Sayani Gupta as the visually challenged Khanum.But for the last conversation between Khanum and Laila, which I found over the top and out of syn with the understated tone of the movie, the rest of the film is beautifully narrated.Ultimately MWAS is a film about courage. The courage it takes to tell a story that is usually untold. But the film is not just about sexuality of someone with cerebral palsy. It is about the courage it takes to break a stereotype.An awesome film you cannot miss.-----------------------Join me on Twitter @AbhijitBhaduriDon't miss this talk by Kalki <click here>