Adventures in Zambezia
Laila (Kalki Koechelin) is a teenager with cerebral palsy who uses a wheelchair. She is a student at Delhi University Ramjas college and an aspiring writer who writes lyrics and creates electronic sou…
Adventures in Zambezia
Laila (Kalki Koechelin) is a teenager with cerebral palsy who uses a wheelchair. She is a student at Delhi University Ramjas college and an aspiring writer who writes lyrics and creates electronic sounds for an indie band at the university. Laila is talented & sexually active. She has sexual relations with another student Druv (Hussain Dalal), who is also wheelchair bound, and who resents Laila for having normal friends like Sameera (Shuchi Dwivedi) and Nima (Tenzin Dalha). Laila drinks everything with a straw. Laila is driven to and from the college campus by her mother Subhangini (Revathi), in their family van designed for her specific mobility needs. Laila's father (Kuljeet Singh) is also loving and understanding of her situation. She has a brother named Monu (Malhar Khushu). Laila's family loves her very much and she is never made to feel different than any other human being. Laila likes to dress up and put on make up whenever she goes to college and has a high self-esteem. Laila uses utensils that are designed for the shape of her hand. In college, Laila uses an electric powered wheelchair to move around. The school janitors have to carry her between floors, when the elevator is not working. She finds this experience humiliating but is helpless and has no option but to endure it. Laila is not happy when others treat her differently. Dhruv wants to be steady with Laila, but Laila says that she does not want an exclusive relationship with Dhruv just yet. Laila tries to ignore Dhruv, but he confronts her at college. Dhruv says that Laila will never be normal while being with other "normal" people. Laila feels that Dhruv is just jealous as she has many friends. Sameera is the college band, and Laila is helping them with lyrics for their new song which they plan to play at the upcoming band competition. Laila has a crush on Nima, who is the lead singer of the band and invites him to her house for jam session. Laila uses multi-lingual words to compose lyrics for the new song. Shubhangini is a Sitar player and a classical singer. Laila is very close to Shubhangini and shares with her that she has a crush on a boy. Laila writes a love letter for Nima but decides to hand it over after the band competition. Laila watches porn and masturbates like any other normal human being. Laila helps her college by winning a college band competition by composing brilliant lyrics. But her contributions are ignored when the judges announce that part of the reason Ramjas won was because their lyrics were written by a disabled person. The whole band feels bad that the jury decided to focus on Laila's physical disability rather than the quality of her work. Laila flips a finger to the judge and leaves the stage. Laila falls for Nima the lead singer of the college band. Laila is heartbroken when she is rejected. Laila shares her sadness with Shubhangini and says that she doesn't like going to college anymore as she made a fool of herself. Shubhangini is also having regular medical tests for her illness, but the doctors are not able to diagnose properly. Laila soon overcomes this phase, when she gets a scholarship for a semester at New York University. Despite her father's reservations, she moves to Greenwich Village, Manhattan with her orthodox Maharashtrian mother, Shubhangini Damle. Her father feels that it will be difficult for Laila to adjust so far away from home and says that there are better study options in Delhi. Dhruv comes by wish her goodbye before she leaves for NYC. New York is harsh but is also more accommodating for her special needs. In NYC Laila is able to travel on public transport and even Shubhangini travels with her - she maintains a distance from Laila, thereby giving her both independence and oversight. Living in Manhattan, she meets an attractive young man named Jared (William Moseley) in her creative writing class, who is assigned to help her in typing. Laila gets involved in local student's clubs and participates in their activities as well, as this was something that she could not do in India. She also meets the fiery young activist Khanum (Sayani Gupta), a blind girl of a Pakistani Bangladeshi descent, whom she later falls in love with. Khanum and Laila go on a date. Laila is enamored by Khanum's fiercely independent personality and her positive perspective towards her own disability. The two spend most of their time together, filling in as each other's caregivers. Gradually, as Laila spends more time with Khanum, they have sex and eventually decide to move in together. Shubhangini allows this as she believes that Laila and Khanum are friends and that a bit of independence is good for Laila. Shubhangini returns to India. As Laila embarks on a journey of sexual discovery, she figures out she is bisexual, as she feels attracted to men like Jared in spite of being with Khanum. She has sex with Jared, and she doesn't tell Khanum. Laila's mother, believing the two are like best friends and oblivious to the fact that Khanum is her daughter's lover, invites her to Delhi to spend the winter break with the family. It is during that time that Laila finds the courage to tell her mother about her sexuality and her relationship with Khanum, which her mother initially disapproves. Laila also tells Khanum that she had sex with Jared and asks her to forgive her. Khanum thinks that she was being used by Laila and leaves her. After a short while Laila's mother falls sick, and she learns that her mother had second stage colon cancer which has fallen into relapse after previous treatments. Later Laila and her mother patch up and come to terms with each other. After her mother dies Laila plays a recorded speech at her mother's funeral telling how much she loved her and how she was the only one who ever understood her. The story ends with Laila going on a date, with herself, signifying that she now has taken control of her life and doesn't need anyone else to love and care for her.
Adventures in Zambezia
Adventure,Animation,Comedy
Film Details
Laila (Kalki Koechelin) is a teenager with cerebral palsy who uses a wheelchair. She is a student at Delhi University Ramjas college and an aspiring writer who writes lyrics and creates electronic sounds for an indie band at the university. Laila is talented & sexually active.
She has sexual relations with another student Druv (Hussain Dalal), who is also wheelchair bound, and who resents Laila for having normal friends like Sameera (Shuchi Dwivedi) and Nima (Tenzin Dalha). Laila drinks everything with a straw. Laila is driven to and from the college campus by her mother Subhangini (Revathi), in their family van designed for her specific mobility needs.
Laila's father (Kuljeet Singh) is also loving and understanding of her situation. She has a brother named Monu (Malhar Khushu). Laila's family loves her very much and she is never made to feel different than any other human being.
Laila likes to dress up and put on make up whenever she goes to college and has a high self-esteem. Laila uses utensils that are designed for the shape of her hand. In college, Laila uses an electric powered wheelchair to move around.
The school janitors have to carry her between floors, when the elevator is not working. She finds this experience humiliating but is helpless and has no option but to endure it. Laila is not happy when others treat her differently.
Dhruv wants to be steady with Laila, but Laila says that she does not want an exclusive relationship with Dhruv just yet. Laila tries to ignore Dhruv, but he confronts her at college. Dhruv says that Laila will never be normal while being with other "normal" people.
Laila feels that Dhruv is just jealous as she has many friends. Sameera is the college band, and Laila is helping them with lyrics for their new song which they plan to play at the upcoming band competition. Laila has a crush on Nima, who is the lead singer of the band and invites him to her house for jam session.
Laila uses multi-lingual words to compose lyrics for the new song. Shubhangini is a Sitar player and a classical singer. Laila is very close to Shubhangini and shares with her that she has a crush on a boy.
Laila writes a love letter for Nima but decides to hand it over after the band competition. Laila watches porn and masturbates like any other normal human being. Laila helps her college by winning a college band competition by composing brilliant lyrics.
But her contributions are ignored when the judges announce that part of the reason Ramjas won was because their lyrics were written by a disabled person. The whole band feels bad that the jury decided to focus on Laila's physical disability rather than the quality of her work. Laila flips a finger to the judge and leaves the stage.
Laila falls for Nima the lead singer of the college band. Laila is heartbroken when she is rejected. Laila shares her sadness with Shubhangini and says that she doesn't like going to college anymore as she made a fool of herself.
Shubhangini is also having regular medical tests for her illness, but the doctors are not able to diagnose properly. Laila soon overcomes this phase, when she gets a scholarship for a semester at New York University. Despite her father's reservations, she moves to Greenwich Village, Manhattan with her orthodox Maharashtrian mother, Shubhangini Damle.
Her father feels that it will be difficult for Laila to adjust so far away from home and says that there are better study options in Delhi. Dhruv comes by wish her goodbye before she leaves for NYC. New York is harsh but is also more accommodating for her special needs.
In NYC Laila is able to travel on public transport and even Shubhangini travels with her - she maintains a distance from Laila, thereby giving her both independence and oversight. Living in Manhattan, she meets an attractive young man named Jared (William Moseley) in her creative writing class, who is assigned to help her in typing. Laila gets involved in local student's clubs and participates in their activities as well, as this was something that she could not do in India.
She also meets the fiery young activist Khanum (Sayani Gupta), a blind girl of a Pakistani Bangladeshi descent, whom she later falls in love with. Khanum and Laila go on a date. Laila is enamored by Khanum's fiercely independent personality and her positive perspective towards her own disability.
The two spend most of their time together, filling in as each other's caregivers. Gradually, as Laila spends more time with Khanum, they have sex and eventually decide to move in together. Shubhangini allows this as she believes that Laila and Khanum are friends and that a bit of independence is good for Laila.
Shubhangini returns to India. As Laila embarks on a journey of sexual discovery, she figures out she is bisexual, as she feels attracted to men like Jared in spite of being with Khanum. She has sex with Jared, and she doesn't tell Khanum.
Laila's mother, believing the two are like best friends and oblivious to the fact that Khanum is her daughter's lover, invites her to Delhi to spend the winter break with the family. It is during that time that Laila finds the courage to tell her mother about her sexuality and her relationship with Khanum, which her mother initially disapproves. Laila also tells Khanum that she had sex with Jared and asks her to forgive her.
Khanum thinks that she was being used by Laila and leaves her. After a short while Laila's mother falls sick, and she learns that her mother had second stage colon cancer which has fallen into relapse after previous treatments. Later Laila and her mother patch up and come to terms with each other.
After her mother dies Laila plays a recorded speech at her mother's funeral telling how much she loved her and how she was the only one who ever understood her. The story ends with Laila going on a date, with herself, signifying that she now has taken control of her life and doesn't need anyone else to love and care for her..