“Margarita with a Straw” Is An Indian LGBT Film That Will Blow Your Mind

Recently I had the opportunity to watch Margarita with a Straw, an internationally-acclaimed film filled with diversity of race, sexuality, and ability that blew me away with its humor and simple story. If you’re not into super sentimental coming-of-age stories then this might not be your cup of chai, but if the trailer makes you tear up or feel some feelings like it did for me, you better get on board real fast because the ride only gets better.

“What do you want for your 40th birthday?” Director Shonali Bose asked her sister (first cousin, really, but they’re close), Malini Chib. Malini (author of One Little Finger — guess what she typed that with) was born with cerebral palsy, an incurable neurological condition that weakens the muscles and limits body movement and muscle coordination. As the tongue is itself a muscle, speech may be garbled or impaired as one struggles to move their tongue to speak. Malini’s answer, however, came out loud and clear this time:

“I just want to have sex!” “Sex is not all it’s cracked up to be,” is something along the lines of Shonali’s facetious and sort of dismissive reply, feeling too awkward and uncertain to address Malini’s sexuality. The awkwardness and uncertainty at Malini’s birthday wish, along with the tragic loss of Shonali’s 16-year-old son, fueled her pursuit to write a film that would capture the yearning Malini had felt growing up as well as the journey of loss and acceptance that Shonali had undergone in her own life. Kalki K…