Cocktail (2012)

This is possibly one of the worst productions of modern day Bollywood. The director seems to be making strenuous attempts to display lives of urban Indians, but its becomes almost immediately clear that he knows nothing of the subject. The protagonist, Veronica, is a femme fatal for the first half of the movie, but the second half invariably brings in as much moral indictment of her character as the director could possible pack in. She is disrespected by her boyfriend's mother to an extreme but doesn't mind, since suddenly her low sense of self-esteem is to blame for her 'immoral conduct'. Veronica's boyfriend, an oblivious playboy just looking to have a good time, of course on cue falls for a good, virtuous Indian girl that Veronica is helping get back on her feet. This girl happily accepts his advances and reciprocates his feelings - the director then tries to infuse pity for this girl in the eyes of the viewer despite the fact that she cheats with her best friend/ care-giver's boyfriend. Why should we feel sorry for this woman? Not because she's an honest woman, but because she unlike Veronica is docile and morally intact i.e. a virgin.

This is possibly the saddest depiction of the Madonna-Ho complex that is so deeply embedded in the Indian psyche. The man sleeps with the immoral ho and marries the virginal Madonna- a sad commentary on Indian society's ethics. The movie advocates bigotry and whatever the director believes 'Indian morality' consists of - a very sad and limiting belief indeed. In this attempt, unfortunately, ethics are forgotten. I am an Indian and am highly disappointed in this erroneous portrayal of my society. This heinousness promoted this review.

Fmovies: The good point of this movie is it not very filmy. The acting done by all the 3 main characters are above average, and story is also good. I read in a review someone was asking for background musical score. Then watch Balaji TV serials. Even the Oscar winner movie "No country for old men" did not have any background score. If you want real life like picture then you have to FEEL it. And if you want just family gathering entertainment then watch Balaji serials or SAB TV. If Boman Irani have got any more footage and scenes in the movie this movie could have failed terribly and may become a Houseful kind of movie. So right editing and right stories. Dimple Kapadi acting was very good, as usual.

COCKTAIL as the name suggests is a perfect example of the chaotic formula usually followed in our Hindi Films. Chaotic, because they often make a mess out of a film which in reality could have been a great entertainer for all the young at heart. In fact it has now become a routine to see new big banner films with a great star-cast, starting off brilliantly in their first half and then crashing down miserably in the second as if the makers had lost their interest in its making.

Unfortunately COCKTAIL also falls in the same category of films which successfully manage to impress the viewer before the intermission but then suddenly become tough to handle in their second half since they have nothing new to offer in terms of content or storyline. Now in case of COCKTAIL, no doubt the viewer already knew that its going to be the same love triangle as visible in its promos but still the treatment looked fresh and interesting with some good songs. So the excitement level was there which really gets served well in its first 90 minutes.

But then what happens to the entire narration, writing, direction and acting in its later reels forces you to think that, "If the viewers can see this huge negative difference in the two halves of a movie then why the writers cannot see the same while writing it or why the director cannot see it while directing it or why the actors cannot see it while enacting it or why the consultants cannot report the same while watching the rushes of the movie while its being shot?"

Putting it differently, COCKTAIL is quite similar to the pouring of beer which excites you well with its energetic sound, bubbles and smell while its filling up the glass. But if you keep the same beer for a while then it just becomes useless losing all its charm, energy & taste representing the second half of the movie. Such is a contrast in its two halves that it further raises two questions that Whether there happened to be any problem in its making leading to this mess and Whether this was the exact movie, director wished to make in his mind or not?

Personally, I enjoyed watching both its performances and the treatment given to its predictable storyline before the intermission. But post that, the same narration turns so routine that it becomes really hard to even bear it for another hour or so. Also the writers remain pretty confused about how to portray their characters on the screen in moral terms. For instance, I kept thinking that How they really wanted to show Deepika's character as? Was she a drug addict, a freedom loving person believing in free sex (sleeping with everyone) or just believed in being available?Â….Who was she as a person really? In the similar manner, the script is also never interested in talking about the character of Randeep Hooda, in the role of a cunning husband.

In the music department, though the songs sound great as a soundtrack but they do hinder the pace of the movie adding to its extra length. Pritam also borrows two hit Punjabi tracks from Pakistan's Arif Lohar (Jugni -Coke Studio fame) and Punjab's Honey Singh-Gippy Grewal (Angrezi Beat), may be since he is now working with Honey in his future projects too (probably RACE 2). Background music by Salim Suleman is cool working well in its romantic scenes and Cinematography surely adds to the exciting look of the movie in great terms. But writing about the technical aspects of the film would remain incomplete here if I do not mention the styling or fashion part of the movie deserving full mark

Cocktail fmovies. The only good movie in the Indian cinema this year! Either Indian don't know what a good movie is or they just want the Body Guard or Rowdy Rathor crap (which I haven't even see, but my intellect tell they were crap). That being said, the major major epic element in this movie was Strong Story Line!! There are many movie released with shitty story line & for a movie to transcend a Strong Stoy Line is a must. Cocktail's script even made the new comer, Diana Penty, look like a great diva (she was the bomb in the movie). I have stopped watching a lot of Indian movies, because I know it's going to be crap & I was intrigued for writing this review because of the rating/reviews others had posted, which was is a total unjust towards a great piece piece of art. That being said I would say watch the movie, albeit it's not in the theaters anymore. I watched it twice in theaters & for me two watch a movie second time is pretty rare, unless I know I'll be getting my bucks worth.

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 da

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.