Cocktail Review

COCKTAIL is a Hindi feature film which released on 13th July, 2012. This film has been produced by Saif Ali Khan under his banner Illuminati Films & Eros International and its producers are Dinesh Vijan and Saif Ali Khan. It has been directed by Homi Adajania and stars Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone and Diana Penty. Its genre is love-romance. Read the review ahead before watching the film.

Story : Gautam (Saif Ali Khan) is a big flirt. He goes on flirting with different girls. Meanwhile the director shows you the story of Meera (Diana Penty) who has gone to London in search of her husband Randeep Hooda. But after a long struggle when she finds him, he behaves very rudely with her and asks her to go out of his life. Dejected and depressed Meera weeps over her fate in a departmental store's bathroom where Veronica (Deepika Padukone) sees her. She talks to her and tries to know her problem. Meera narrates her problem to her in brief. When Veronica comes to know that Meera had no job and no shelter where she could stay, she takes Meera to her own house and gives her freedom to stay there as long as she can and the way she would wish. At first Meera hesitates, but soon she realizes that Veronica's heart was really very good towards her so she gets a friend as well as a house to stay.

The nature of both is different. On one hand Meera is introvert, shy, typical Indian girl/housewife and on the other hand Veronica is just opposite. She wears clothes for namesake, she doesn't mind flirting and sleeps with boys knowing that they are just sleeping together and aren't going to marry each other.

Veronica has also slept with Gautam (Saif) who starts staying in the same house and all three behave and live like friends. But Meera doesn't like boys such as Gautam and at one place she even calls him a pig in fun.

Gautam's mother Kavita (Dimple Kapadia) knows his flirting habits and wants to get rid of his habits. She is desperate to get him married. So she sends him photos of different girls to select a girl for marriage. With the help of his maternal uncle Mama –Boman Irani, he tells lies to his mother that he had already selected a girl for his marriage. His mother can't believe it but with the help of his Mama, Gautam is able to make her believe it.

One day while all three are enjoying and making fun, Gautam's mother reaches there with her brother –Boman Irani, to give him surprise. Veronica thinks them to be Gautam's friend and gives them entry into her room and what they see is unbelievable for them. She sees her son dancing in the guise of a girl.

Well, the twist comes when Kavita inquires about his would be wife. Gautam knew that she would reject Veronica immediately and get him married to someone else so he introduces Meera as her would be wife. All get surprised. But twist pops in the film when Kavita likes Meera as her daughter- in-law and starts making future plans for her marriage.

Gautam thinks that every thing would be over as soon as his mother would go back so there was nothing to worry..but his worry starts when even after his mother goes back, Meera and Gautam feel that they have fallen in love with each other. Gautam feels that his love for Veronica was not love but just physical attraction and they were together to enjoy just physical relationship.

Now Gautam wants to get Meera as his wife but problem begins when the audience comes to know that even Veronica had fallen in real love with Gautam and her love was not just for physical relationship. In fact she wanted to get married to him.

What would happen now? A triangle love story pops in from here? Would Gautam get married to Meera? Or would Veronica get married to Gautam? All these questions are answered in the remaining part of the film.

Acting : Deepika Padukone looks extremely beautiful and glamorous. She has also performed very well. You can see different types of emotions and expressions on her face. In fact she is the soul of this film. Diana Penty is average in her looks but has acted very well. Saif Ali Khan is good in his role. Randeep Hooda has very less footage and he is okay in that role. Dimple Kapadia and Boman Irani have also justified their characters very well. However, Manoj Pahwa appears in the beginning and God knows where he disappears; so nothing to be mentioned about his performance.

Script : Plot is okay but the screenplay is very slow, especially in the first half. However, the writers Imtiaz Ali and Sajid Ali have created defined characters and also created some funny scenes. They avoided vulgar scenes in a film like this. The characters of Meera and Veronica are well defined and they do according to their characters. Dialogues are good.

Music : Pritam is the music director of this film who has done a good job. He has composed a few songs very well such as 'Tumhi Ho Bandhu', 'Desi Daroo', 'Second Hand Jawaani' which are pleasant while you listen to them and you can also play them repeatedly for a few days. Background music score is given by Salim-Sulaiman which is good.

Cinematography : Anil Mehta is the DOP of this film who has captured the shots very well. He has avoided vulgarity while capturing some scenes where Deepika exposes her skin.

Choreography : The choreographers Bosco Martis and Ashley Lobo have done excellent job in choreographing some of its songs such as 'Tumhi Ho Bandhu', 'Second Hand Jawani' etc. The steps and movements of 'Tumhi Ho Bandhu' are superb.

Editing : Editing is done by Sreekar Prasad, which he could have done been better. At some places, he has kept close up shots for long duration which was not required. In a song there are rapid changes of shots and causes flickering lights which may give you headache within 3-4 minutes if your eyes are sensitive.

Direction : Homi Adajania has tried to do well. His shots and takings are good. He should be given applause for portraying the beauty of Deepika Padukone in this manner where you don't get to see any vulgarity, whereas the subject is very bold and the character of Deepika Padukone is extremely bold. Despite that, Homi has avoided any kind of vulgarity, except a few kissing scenes which have become normal these days in films. The director has portrayed only the beauty of Deepika for which he should be admired. He has tried to tell the story in a well manner but has slowed down its speed (very low in first half) which bores you. The director has also failed in casting. In place of Diana, he should have cast Deepika Padukone. This role doesn't suit Deepika. However, what she does in the end gives life to her character and allows you to ignore many loopholes.

Plus Points : Deepika Padukone; Her Beauty; Her Performance; Good Music by Pritam, Songs Sung by Neeraj Shridhar; Direction; A Few Comical Scenes

Minus Points : Mis-Casting; Slow Pace before Interval; Length More Than Required

Conclusion : Though this film appeared to be very bold from its promos, it contains no vulgarity except some conversations between the lead characters. However it contains beauty so it will attract general audiences also apart from youngsters. It will surely do business better than TERI MERI KAHAANI.

Box Office Predictions : It may not become super hit due to various reasons, but has the potential to become a hit.

Verdict : You can watch it once for triangle love story (of different type)! You can also watch it for time pass. If you are Deepika's fan, you must not miss this film.