Oh! Cocktail. Cocktail is directed by Homi Adajania. There is a question which I love to ask in all my filmi gup-shup sessions. To connect Being Cyrus and Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. The answer is that Being Cyrus is directed by Homi Adajania, who, is married to Anaita Shroff Adajania. Anaita played the role of Sheena, Simran's friend, in Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, and also played Geeta, Saif's girlfriend, in Kal Ho Na Ho. And to add more to her achievements, she is also the director of Vogue (India) and has designed costumes for films, such as Love Aaj Kal, Dhoom 2 and Cocktail. Yes, I love such relationship trivia. (There is another one - to connect the Jessical Lal Murder with the TV Show Hip Hip Hurray..keep thinking) But I digress as always. Homi Adajani made the brilliant Being Cyrus. I loved that film...a super cool murder mystery. Ever since I got to know Homi is making his second film (Cocktail) after seven years, I have been eagerly waiting for it. And finally it released this weekend. I remember bunking office last year at the same time to watch a movie first day first show. 15 July - Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara had released. Yes, I bunk office to watch films :) It is exactly a year and was hoping Cocktail to be as good. Ah, I was disappointed with Cocktail. As the super cool Rajyashree Sen tweeted, Cocktail is more like Lassi. Hehe! Written by Imtiaz Ali and his brother Sajid Ali, Cocktail is the story of Gautam (Saif), Veronica (Deepika) and Meera (Diana). Veronica (reference to Archie comics) is the 'rich bitch' as she calls her self and Meera is the homely Indian girl (A name like Betty from Archie won't suit an Indian girl no?). Veronica meets Meera in a loo where she sees Meera crying after her husband duped her in a hoax marriage. So she takes her home. Gautam is the usual flirt types. So, after a meeting at the disco, Gautam sleeps with Veronica and the next thing we know is that they are living together. Of course, the hero's mom turns up and she won't accept the more headstrong girl for a bahu. And somehow by the turn of events, Gautam falls in love with Diana. That is essentially the premise of the film. The first half begins well. It is fresh and sets the pace well. There are some laugh out loud moments, such as the Gautam dancing on Sheela ki Jawani, or the one where Gautam's mom gives a mouth-to-mouth respiration to Veronica. The film is so beautiful..gorgeous people, gorgeous locations..not even a speck of dirt. The problem starts post interval and the film goes downhill using every single cliche that we have seen before. One of the most brilliant and refreshing scenes in the movie was when Gautam, Meera and Veronica are sitting in the kitchen and Gautam says, "You love me. I love her.Yeh Hindi film nahi hai..let's sort it out." The problem is post this scene, Cocktail falls in the same old been there done that trap that it was trying to avoid in the first place. So, you know already who Gautam is going to end with..who will make the sacrifice. Nothing really happens and what we see is an extremely boring second half. The problem that I faced with Cocktail was the lack of emotional investment in characters. I didn't really know or care who should I feel for. Gautam, Veronica or Meera? Even Aisha, a film that has been trashed by all, had some wonderful characters for whom you felt. Remember Shefali? But here you have Gautam, who has slept with umpteen women before, sleeps with Veronica..never believed in love..just one fine day sitting on a beach, he says some cheesy pick up lines and realizes he has fallen in love. Is love that flimsy? Is it that simple to happen? What if he found another pretty girl again? Why can't he marry of his own choice? Why has the girl to be homely? The second half has some useless sequences with such a boring climax speech. No emotions. Also, we never know what exactly happened to Randeep Hooda that he has injuries? Never do we see these people in their office...don't these people work at all?
At one point, Veronica and Meera are having a conversation on how much they like each other and how much they mean to each other..somehow, it felt as if they both have feelings for each other! Veronica, in fact, moved away from Meera, after she realized how uncomfortably close they had become. All the while, I was hoping in the climax, the twist would be Veronica would turn out to be a lesbian!
Saif looks completely out of place..the role was originally written for Imran Khan but Saif insisted he play it. He looks extremely old for the part looking always red and skin burnt. Diana is very pretty but is just okay but the complete surprise of the film - Deepika. She was awesome. For the first time ever, I have loved Deepika's acting. Watch the scene where she is drunk and says to Meera that she used her and stole Gautam away from her. Deepika was simply fabulous. Totally loved her. Homi creates some brilliant sequences of her loneliness like the one in the pub. Also, she maintains a video diary..loved the concept..and she finally realizes that she cannot force Gautam to love her...and us usual I love such characters :\ I hope Veronica finds someone who loves her.
Cocktail has terrific music. Though I seriously wish they had kept Arif Lohar's original Jugni from Coke Studio Pakistan. That song is my eternal favorite. The lyrics are so deep and beautiful. Watch the original one here.
Except Jab We Met, I have had issues with Imtiaz's films, especially their female characters - Love Aaj Kal and Rockstar. Though this one is only written by him, I guess, I will add one more to the list.
Dialogue of the Day:
Chad duniya dey janjaal (Remove yourself from worldly concerns)
Kuch ni nibna bandiya naal (There is nothing that you can get from other human beings that you can take to the after-life)
Rakhi saabat sidh amaal (Just keep you actions and intentions pure)
- Jugni, Arif Lohar, Coke Studio (Pakistan)/Cocktail
I cannot agree more with you. After such a refreshing and lively first half, the second half of the movie was such a big disappointment. There were so many scenes and incidents that were not needed and had been put only to increase the length of the movie.
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely correct about the lack of emotional attachment with the characters. Although the second half was full of emotional scenes, I cannot remember even one scene when I was moved or had tears in my eyes. I was in fact quite indifferent to the emotions being portrayed.
I did not like Diana at all. Instead of playing a demure girl, she ended up playing an expressionless third character. Watching her on screen reminded me of Kristen Stewart (Bella Swan) from Twilight, who also lacks all expressions.
Deepika was simply fab!! She brought Veronica alive on screen. I just loved her, from her entry to the very end. She portrayed every emotion perfectly.