Movie Review MARGARITA WITH A STRAW Is Moving Portrayal But Lacks Range And Depth

Film will release tomorrow and should release across 300 screens. Film had no chances at box office as its a film with very niche appeal. Film will depend on exceptional word of mouth to survive as it has no great buzz or marketing awareness.

Friday, 10th April 12:15 PM IST

MARGARITA WITH A STRAW Is Moving Portrayal But Lacks Range And Depth

Pluses:

Kalki Koechin gives best performance of her career, Revathy is outstanding, Sayani Gupta is spell-bounding, neat direction, great camerawork

Minuses:

single dimensional screenplay, writing lacks punch and range

Critic Rating:

3.5/5

Business Rating:

1/5

Verdict:

Watch it for some exceptional performances

Detailed Analysis:

Kalki Koechin is one of the finest performers, be it her portrayal in 'Dev D' or in 'Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, she is quite a revelation as new face of Indie cinema. Now she delivers another niche film with big heart.

Film depicts struggle of a cerebral palsy patient, a young 20 year old girl Laila (Kalki Koechin) in Delhi. She has very supportive Sikh family, normal young brother, jovial father and friendly mother (Revathy). Laila is trying to explore her sexuality and she gets physically intimate with a physically challenged guy and at the same time she feels attracted towards another friend who is there in her music band. But her music band friend breaks her heart and she goe sin kind of depression but to alleviate her mood, her mother gets her admitted into a course in New York University. There she meets a fun loving but blind girl Khanum (Sayani Gupta) from Bangladesh. Both fall in love and this lesbian relation forms a strong bond between two strong souls until one day Laila gets into the bed with another male friend from NYU. How Laila gets out of this relationship mess forms the rest of the story.

Performance wise Kalki Koechin is too good and shines in lead role. This might be her best act till date and will win her many awards. Revathy is always good and understated. Sayani Gupta is outstanding and other supporting cast is good too.

Film has interesting premise but screenplay dips big time in after initial half an hour plus it remains single dimensional as it keeps exploring sexual issues. Film becomes predictable and finds very cliche uninteresting situations. Film has interesting background score. Art department is good and editing is top notch.

Director Shonali Bose succeeds in bringing out the pain, angst and contradictions in the life of a cerebral palsy patient. He delivers a confident film though a better screenplay would had made huge difference.

Go for this one for powerful acts and impressive story!