Kalki Koechlin: Scary to play a real-life person

Kalki Koechlin

Portraying an actual living person is a task in itself and for Kalki Koechlin it was even more challenging as she plays not just a real-life individual but someone who suffers from cerebral palsy in "Margarita With A Straw".

Kalki Koechlin

The 31-year-old actress has garnered a lot of praise for her role in the Shonali Bose-directed movie which is inspired from the filmmakers' cousin Malini. The movie talks about her struggle with the normal activities in her life.

"It was scary of course, the whole disability act. I had to make sure that I pull it off perfectly. There was a lot of pressure. But I knew I had to do justice to my role as it is Shonali and Malini's very personal tale. These two women have been very open to me about their lives. They have let me in and shared their darkest secrets," Kalki told PTI.

"Margarita With A Straw" had its world premiere on September 8, 2014 as part of the Contemporary World Cinema Programme at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

The movie later went on to be screened at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia, BFI London Film Festival, Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) and the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF). The film will finally hit theatres on April 17.

The actress said she underwent lengthy and strenuous preparations for the film as she wanted to be as believable as possible in the role of a wheel-chair bound girl afflicted with cerebral palsy.

"I was training for six months before shooting the film as I had to get the body language right. I wanted to get every aspect of disability right. I did a six-weeks workshop with Adil Hussain.

"We tried putting marbles in my mouth for the speech part.

It was a long process. During the two months of shooting I stayed in my character completely," the actress said.