Margarita With A Straw: Very special film, very special Kalki

Margarita With A Straw
Starring: Kalki Koechlin, Revathi, Sayani Gupta
Rated: 7.5/10
You would think the topic of this bold and beautiful film would be uncomfortable to be with. It’s not so though the directness and openness with which director Shonali Bose has unravelled the issue of sexual aspirations of the disabled people is refreshingly disconcerting — not because of the disabled people but because of the able minded mindsets about this very special segment of society.
Margarita With A Straw is refreshingly different, straight-forward and simple about the fact that cerebral palsy does not mean you are retarded or your body does not have needs or that your mind does not fly, aspire, inspire or struggle to face life in all its aspects.
Kalki Koechlin, who plays this role to perfection, depicting uncontrollable body movements as perfectly as the uncontrollable desires to “explore” her sexuality, pulls it off with great elan. It’s stunning to realise that she and her sexual exploration through both genders, specially her lesbian relationship, makes you understand in a strange kind of way how it just might be okay to be bisexual, how a lesbian relationship is not just about sex but a whole lot of emotional fulfillment and how a romp in the bed with a “normal” man was something that Kalki does only to clear her doubts about being gay. “I am bi,” she tells her mother who is her friend and guide (played with controlled beauty by Revathi). The repartee is equally cool with her mother replying “haan kaam karke hum sab bi hi to ban gayee hain!”
Bose has skillfully wrapped a disabled existence in the right dose of humour and positivity and that gives this very special movie a very special shine and polish. All awards reserved for Kalki, of course. Definitely worth an Oscar nomination from India. 
Source: Sunday Pioneer, 19 April, 2015

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