Cocktail

Homi Adajania's 'Cocktail' has a Winning First-Half, but an Average Second. It begins wonderfully & offers some hilarious moments, but in the latter hour, the proceedings not only become serious but also very dry. Nonetheless, a decent effort!

'Cocktail' is about 3 friends, of whom each, falls in love with one another.

'Cocktail' rides on an excellent first-hour, with each sequence working big-time. But as mentioned, the second-hour is average. The proceedings appear dry. Imtiaz Ali & Sajid Ali's Screenplay is good, but could've been tighter in the latter hour. Homi Adajania's Direction is highly efficient. Cinematography, Editing & Production Design, are top-class. Music by Pritam, is terrific.

Performance-Wise: Saif Ali Khan is a fine actor & the actor once again pitches in a sincere, believable performance. Deepika Padukone is fantastic, her performance stands out. Diana Penty does quiet well, although her role lacks meat. Dimple Kapadia & Boman Irani are impeccable. Their sequences are simply hilarious! Randeep Hooda deserved a better deal.

On the whole, 'Cocktail' is a decent effort.

Cocktail – CATCH IT (B) From promos Cocktail looked like something really out of the box or fresh but sadly it's just another story about 2 best friends falling for the same Casanova guy. Now the only thing made this movie different from the previous movies was the brilliant performance and confidence of Deepika Padakone, this woman was amazing and literally stole the show with her brilliant performance. She deserves all the accolades, as she brought this sympathy into audience's hearts towards the party girls. That even though they are bold, and do crazy stuff it doesn't mean that they don't have heart or don't want simple things in life. On the other hand Saif Ali Khan as Casanova was irritating. He has the looks but c'mon his cheesy dialogues and pickup lines were just too cheap to ignore. New girl Diana Penty makes a good impression. The music of the movie is really good. In the end, it's a typical movie with nothing new but still enjoyable and a must see for Deepika's Performance.

First fool around as much as you can and then settle down for a nice girl. How many times do we have to watch this? There is nothing good Cocktail really offers. I do not even need to give summary of the story. Everything we already watched before. Plus, the ending is way too predictable. Saif is in his same boring role of a player. He was once quite good at playing this character, but now there is something wrong with his face. Sure he looks old. There is nothing wrong with this. Only thing is that his face now has some kind of wildness and that makes him perfect for darker roles.

The second most irritating character was Deepika's. Yes, she is a party girl and personally she did well at portraying it. But the director went overboard with it. Sometimes I felt as if she went to clubs just because it was her real job and for dancing and drinking she got paid hourly. There was also less development in her role. We only get to hear the reason behind her wild lifestyle, but get to see nothing of it. The savior in the film is the new girl, Diana Penty. She is sweet, cute and innocent. More of Dimple was necessary. Unfortunately, she is only minute's guest.

I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone. It's simply because it has nothing unique.

Post 'Dil Chahta Hai', Indian cinema developed a young urban audience which was receptive to hip films. Trendy music, trendy fashion, trendy plots and trendy urban setting. Hum Tum, Salaam Namaste, Wake Up Sid, Rockstar etc. were targeted towards the same segment and were accepted by the audience as well. These movies made Saif and Ranbir stars of the multiplex audience while Khans, Ajay Devgan and Akshay Kumar remained the superstars of masses.

Cocktail is another film for the same audience, with the same cast and believe it or not, actually almost the same story line as previous films. Does this Cocktail have all the right ingredients to quench the thirst of the modern cine-goer? The answer is No. And it's a big flat NO.

With some inspirations from 'Vicky Christina Barcelona', Cocktail is a love triangle on the lines of 'friends with benefits'. Guy chooses one girl over the other, jealousy sets in and in the end one of the two girls offers a sacrifice. Co-written by the seasoned Imtiaz Ali and debutant Sajid Ali, Cocktail's weak script is its biggest weakness. I would put more blame on Imtiaz for not doing justice to his own original thinking by literally borrowing scenes, treatment notes and dialogues from Love Aaj Kal. Never mind the climax or even the name of the heroine i.e. Meera. Imtiaz's first four writing ventures were as authentic as film writing can get. He did take a few creative liberties in Rockstar but in Cocktail he goes the route writers like Robin Bhatt or Shiraz Ahmad (Knock Out, Prince, Jaanasheen) would take. Convenience of co-incidental meetings of Indian strangers in London, supportive Indian snobbish girl offering her apartment to a total stranger, nobody having a British accent despite being brought up in London, Deepika's multiple mental transitions and mysterious new injuries Randeep Hooda carried in every scene and much more.

The director Homi Adajania in his second ventures misses more targets than he hits. In some sequences he is brilliant but those sequences are rare and are mostly performance driven by actors. In others, he struggles to communicate his point with authenticity. The film has a poor first half hour with over the top and deliberate cheesiness of Saif's character and senseless turns of events that you would expect from a Salman Khan's no-brainer. The middle part of the film is good, has strong comic segments and the story develops fast but as the climax approaches, things become way too predictable and mundane. The kind in which you start looking for loo breaks or tweeting.

The one thing which does not disappoint much in the film is the acting bit. In fact, performances are the savior of this otherwise sinking ship. Surprisingly, these are not lead by the main characters but Dimple Kapadia and Boman Irani's supporting roles. Dimple has delivered an ace while Boman is not far behind either.

Saif, besides the first half hour, does well too even though he was a bit over-dramatic for my liking. Excellent comic timing nonetheless and effortless dialogue delivery. Whether you want to see Saif Ali Khan as a 32 year old bachelor or not is a different story. Deepika Padukone has never been a great performer but a bearable one and the status remains intact. Her outrageousness as a party girl was convincing but her emotional banters was weak. Diana Penty gets a good debut. She looked comfortable in underplaying her part with a charming screen presence. She needs to work more on her dialogue delivery and dancing but she is definitely far ahead of the disastrous Nargis Fakhri. As a debut, its somewhere between Nargis Fakhri and Parineeti Chopra. Randeep Hooda has been wasted.

Anila Mehta deserves credit for his camera work and breathtaking visuals of South Africa. Bosco's choreography is also good to watch. Do wait for the end credits after the film is over as they show some hilarious bloopers and 'Second Hand Jawani', very well shot on steadicam.

I don't want to call it a 'BAD' film because that word I have used for films like 'Tees Maar Khan' and 'Blue'. Also, the thought of calling a film written by Imtiaz Ali 'Bad' is a bit disappointing. Let's say, it's not a great film. It has its moments but the moments are very occasional. You should watch it in the theater only if you are a die-hard Saif, Deepika and Bikini scenes fan. If not, wait for the TV airing.

This film lacks freshness, and it's a huge step down for director Adajania, who made a promising debut with Being Cyrus. I wonder what can explain the shift from a slick film noir to this romantic love triangle. Now don't get me wrong, the film is enjoyable, it's young, and its story, though nothing original and actually very derivative, flows quite well. Saif Ali Khan is miscast in a role he's done plenty before. He's obviously good being the natural actor that he is, but it's nothing special. Debutant Diana Penty is also pretty cute and effective. Dimple Kapadia makes a short appearance here as Saif's loud mother in a role that was often played by Kirron Kher at that time. She is obviously excellent. But the one who puts her heart and soul into this enjoyable but stale story is Deepika Padukone, who gives the film its dramatic energy and does enough to make for a good watch with a moving performance. She is the main asset of this watchable but ordinary fare.