Margarita with a Straw 2014 Movie Review

『I Exist Not Through Someone Else’s Gaze, But Through My Own Desire』

🎥 Movie Overview

🎬 Title: Margarita with a Straw (2014)
🌍 Country: 🇮🇳 India
🎞️ Genre: Drama / Coming-of-Age / Romance
🗓️ Production & Release: Viacom18 Motion Pictures
⏳ Runtime: 100 minutes
📢 Director: Shonali Bose
🖋️ Screenplay: Shonali Bose, Nilesh Maniyar
📺 Platforms: Netflix, Amazon Prime Video

👩‍💼 Cast: Kalki Koechlin – Laila
Sayani Gupta – Khanum

🧩 Deep Dive into the Story (Spoilers)

🌱 A New City, Unfamiliar Emotions

Laila is an aspiring songwriter living with cerebral palsy. Always under her mother’s protection, she begins an independent life for the first time after moving to New York to study. In this city, she encounters people with different disabilities and backgrounds, particularly Khanum, a queer woman who is blind. Although Khanum is visually impaired, she expresses herself freely and lives with agency. Meeting Khanum begins to change how Laila sees herself and the world.

💘 Khanum – A Partner, Not a Mirror

Khanum gives Laila her first experience of an equal relationship rather than being seen as someone who needs help. The two grow closer both physically and emotionally, learning to understand and respect each other’s limitations. Laila realizes she has the right to love and choose as a subject of desire, not merely as someone who must be accepted. Their relationship becomes a journey of mutual growth and self-discovery.

⚖️ Mistakes, Choices, and Responsibility

Laila feels attraction toward a man named Jared and explores another side of herself through their relationship. This isn’t mere indulgence but an instinctive impulse to test who she truly is. However, this choice ultimately betrays Khanum’s trust. Their breakup is painful, but Laila learns to acknowledge her emotions and her mistakes. This growth is free of romantic gloss—it is an honest confrontation with herself.

👩‍👧 Family, the Final Obstacle

Laila comes out as bisexual to her mother. Her mother cannot accept it and reacts with shock. This clash with India’s conservative family culture goes beyond coming out; it highlights the reality of having to live as “the unaccepted self.” Yet Laila no longer waits for approval. By accepting herself, she steps forward not as a protected daughter but as a self-sufficient individual.

🦋 Emotional Resonance and Meaning

🎬 Depth of Reality, A Narrative Without Embellishment

Director Shonali Bose based this work on her niece’s story, co-writing the script with authenticity. Dialogues rooted in lived experience and unembellished emotional arcs give the film a profound sense of realism. It demonstrates that this is not merely about “disability” or “queerness,” but a study of humanity itself.

🎥 Cinematic Touch – An Intimate Lens

The use of handheld cameras and close-ups brings the audience intimately into Laila’s perspective. We see New York from her wheelchair, encounter people through her eyes. This visual approach moves beyond simple empathy, urging the audience to recognize the “other as a fellow being in the same world.”

🧃 A Margarita, and a Declaration

In the final scene, Laila sits alone at a bar, sipping a margarita. This moment is a declaration of self-sufficiency—she is “alone,” but not “lonely.” It marks the culmination of her growth, symbolizing that no relationship defines her anymore. She is someone who can create her own life.

🎯 Personal Rating

💕 Love Scene Intensity: ♥♥♥
⭐ Rating: ★★★☆