thing is that "Laila isn't a differently abled person. She's a person who is differently abled [...] human being comes first, the condition only later." Firstposts Deepanjana Pal was especially impressed by the sex scenes, which conveyed a "tenderness towards the on-screen lovers" without being weird or coy. Koechlin's performance as Laila drew a lot attention from film critics, who variously attributed her screen appeal to the lack of acting pretence and her "understated artistry". Venky Vembu of The Hindu wrote that Koechlin lent "such verisimilitude to her portrayal of a person with cerebral palsy, that you forget [...] she's an able-bodied actress." Writing for The Commercial Appeal, John Beifuss compared Koechlin's performance to Eddie Redmayne's portrayal of Stephen Hawking in the biopic The Theory of Everything (2014). He wrote that her performance would have attracted Academy Award notice in a major film studio production. This view was echoed by other writers as well. The supporting cast also received positive reviews. Revathi's "finely nuanced" portrayal of a mother was lauded, and her performance was singled out as "[more] compelling" than any other in the film. Writing for the Los Angeles Times, Gary Goldstein offered a mixed response to the production, but wrote that "it's hard not to be captivated" by Koechlin's and Gupta's performances. Observers also praised the film's technical aspects, while ascribing its appeal to its script, which was "emotionally arresting and startlingly revelatory" and "straight from the heart". Bose's direction was praised for its restraint and its "luminous austerity" and the "expert use of emotions and moments". Many also highlighted the cinematography and commended Misawa for her "judicious work" and "charming frames lit up with an almost dream-like, soft light". Commentators such as Shilpa Jamkhandikar of Reuters and Mihir Fadnavis of Firstpost were critical of the change of tone and hurried narrative in the film's second half. Although the latter was pleased by the film's first half, he thought that after a "glorious, powerful beginning, Bose fails to figure out a proper resolution." Devesh Sharma was critical of the film's scattered plot in his review for Filmfare. He wrote that it "skips and jumps from one plot point to the other", leaving the viewer unsatisfied. Jamkhandikar similarly noted that Bose introduced "too many contrivances and conflicts" in the narrative. Box office Margarita with a Straw released in India on about 250 screens. After collecting the meagre sum of