Sisters before misters?
14 July 2012 12:00 AM GMT
There's a secret about cocktails – you while your time over it or shoot it down, either way it makes a warm cozy spot in your system. And when friendship and some freshly-ground Bollywood love seeps in, all is good in the love story universe. Homi Adajania’s Cocktail is just that heady mixture.
Now what happens once you down it is for you to decide. After Being Cyrus, this is Adajania’s second movie and he’s chosen Saif Ali Khan again. Without a doubt he’s a versatile actor and if one really thinks about it, perhaps Ranbir Kapoor could have been the only one who could have replaced him. Definitely not Imran Khan, who apparently was first choice. Thank God for small mercies!
Ok, this is how Cocktail goes — Veronica (Deepika) is London’s wild child, occasionally (read professionally) she is some sort of a photographer. She has rich parents — explains it all?
In comes Meera (Diana) duped into marriage by the rough Kunal Ahuja (Randeep Hooda in a tiny little role where he is seen with Band-Aids or plasters in almost every other scene). He wants nothing to do with her now that she’s in London. So while Meera sobs in a diner loo, Deepika struts in and a friendship gets struck. Just like that. No explanations as to why Veronica allows Meera in to her life or her flat.
It is Bollywood. End of discussions!
And now since the vital ingredient has been missing, Gautam (Saif) must make his entry. His way in is as Veronica’s ‘friend with benefits’. They aren’t serious about each other and it is all fun and games till Gautam’s mother lands up in London. The overbearing, perfectly Delhi, Kavita Kapoor (Dimple Kapadia) is as adorable as she is irritating as she spouts desi fundas like ‘women should not be single for too long’ and tells Veronica ‘tu ladki acchi hai par thode dhaang ke kapde pehen le!’ (Hands up all those who cringed imagining their mothers saying the exact words to them!).
Gautam finds himself falling in love with the shy, awkward, steeped silly in Indian values Meera. And Meera reciprocates, complicating the triumvirate of friendship while Veronica wants to gradually morph into the perfect Indian bahu material. Sigh!
Push comes to shove when Gautam spills the love beans. Veronica smiles her way through the ordeal but soon is a sodden mess at the party. She cries her heart out, asks Meera to share the man they love, falters, screams and finally tells Meera that this was the worst move of all. The good Indian girl has clearly not heard of the infamous ‘Bro Code’ and in her quintessential self-sacrificing way, Meera abandons the love nest leaving behind a mess of a Veronica and a Gautam. Three stuck in a limbo that they can neither forget nor forgive.
Cocktail is Deepika’s game. She is so natural that it makes her endearing. Diana Penty seems terribly uncomfortable in every scene, the ease that Deepika oozes doesn’t make the almost-frigid character loosen up. And yes, Penty can’t dance. Saif seems to have extended his Love Aaj Kal avatar into Cocktail and he’s fun to watch. Boman Irani takes the cake however. Everyone wants an uncle like him, everyone!
The music is beautifully woven in, full marks for that and the locations are stunning. The movie is a little damp by the end of it. You will laugh, cry, but this cocktail is without the trademark high. It warms you nicely. Just. It scores with the colour and the rush. But this is any other love story.
Now what happens once you down it is for you to decide. After Being Cyrus, this is Adajania’s second movie and he’s chosen Saif Ali Khan again. Without a doubt he’s a versatile actor and if one really thinks about it, perhaps Ranbir Kapoor could have been the only one who could have replaced him. Definitely not Imran Khan, who apparently was first choice. Thank God for small mercies!
Ok, this is how Cocktail goes — Veronica (Deepika) is London’s wild child, occasionally (read professionally) she is some sort of a photographer. She has rich parents — explains it all?
In comes Meera (Diana) duped into marriage by the rough Kunal Ahuja (Randeep Hooda in a tiny little role where he is seen with Band-Aids or plasters in almost every other scene). He wants nothing to do with her now that she’s in London. So while Meera sobs in a diner loo, Deepika struts in and a friendship gets struck. Just like that. No explanations as to why Veronica allows Meera in to her life or her flat.
It is Bollywood. End of discussions!
And now since the vital ingredient has been missing, Gautam (Saif) must make his entry. His way in is as Veronica’s ‘friend with benefits’. They aren’t serious about each other and it is all fun and games till Gautam’s mother lands up in London. The overbearing, perfectly Delhi, Kavita Kapoor (Dimple Kapadia) is as adorable as she is irritating as she spouts desi fundas like ‘women should not be single for too long’ and tells Veronica ‘tu ladki acchi hai par thode dhaang ke kapde pehen le!’ (Hands up all those who cringed imagining their mothers saying the exact words to them!).
Gautam finds himself falling in love with the shy, awkward, steeped silly in Indian values Meera. And Meera reciprocates, complicating the triumvirate of friendship while Veronica wants to gradually morph into the perfect Indian bahu material. Sigh!
Push comes to shove when Gautam spills the love beans. Veronica smiles her way through the ordeal but soon is a sodden mess at the party. She cries her heart out, asks Meera to share the man they love, falters, screams and finally tells Meera that this was the worst move of all. The good Indian girl has clearly not heard of the infamous ‘Bro Code’ and in her quintessential self-sacrificing way, Meera abandons the love nest leaving behind a mess of a Veronica and a Gautam. Three stuck in a limbo that they can neither forget nor forgive.
Cocktail is Deepika’s game. She is so natural that it makes her endearing. Diana Penty seems terribly uncomfortable in every scene, the ease that Deepika oozes doesn’t make the almost-frigid character loosen up. And yes, Penty can’t dance. Saif seems to have extended his Love Aaj Kal avatar into Cocktail and he’s fun to watch. Boman Irani takes the cake however. Everyone wants an uncle like him, everyone!
The music is beautifully woven in, full marks for that and the locations are stunning. The movie is a little damp by the end of it. You will laugh, cry, but this cocktail is without the trademark high. It warms you nicely. Just. It scores with the colour and the rush. But this is any other love story.
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