Cocktail (2012) - (Hindi Movie / Bollywood Film / Indian Cinema) (2012)

I'm never sure where the editorial reviews that are posted for these movies come from . The one listed above wasn't even close to the plot of this film. Johnny Carson's dead ghost The Amazing Carnac could of gotten closer then the description they gave.

Deepika is the rich wild child , the emotionally raw Veronica. She's flash and cash all the way but has a soft spot under her party girl facade . One night she runs into a bathroom after boozing it up too much and happens to meet a beautiful traditional Hindi girl Meera (Diana) who's crying her eyes out. She just found out that the arranged marriage she thought she was part of was real only on paper and she has been victimized by a total rat (extended cameo in two sections of the movie played by Randeep Hooda) . The marriage was a sham hoax. When she showed up in London because he didn't send for her , she finds he married her for her dowry money . He tells her to get lost she can file for married visa and he will divorce her later but he spent her money. After hearing this tale Veronica (Deepika) basically takes her home to help her out until she get's settled in and helps her to slowly change into a more confident person. They become best friends and room mates.

Enter Saif who meets and start a Friends with Benefits relationship with Veronica and a somewhat bumpy friendship with Diana who is his total opposite. They annoy each other in constant little ways but get along for Veronica's sake. One day when his mom shows up with BRIDE ON THE BRAIN , he freaks and tells his mom (Dimple) it's Diana's traditional hindi character that he's in a relationship with not Veronica and that he's going to marry her (hilarious scene you have to see this ). Since Veronica doesn't want anything to do with permanent at this stage and she finds this very funny, she goes along with the lie.

While on a trip to Capetown his mother takes them on, they all discover a few things about themselves. Saif really is attracted to the traditional Diana even though he always dated modern women; and Veronica now wants what she can't have . Saif as her husband . She's fallen in love with the idea of love. She's been alone so long emotionally and Saif was the closest she ever came. His mother is so sweet to her as a person, like a mother figure, filling an empty spot in her life . She is more in love with the idea of being the daughter of the house than she is with being in a giving relationship . She's never seen one in her life. She basically does everything she can do to destroy Diana and Saif to get him back even though when she had him she never really wanted him completely. Her pain and misery almost destroy all of them before she has a second epiphany and restores their lives back to some semblance of sanity.

Deepika soars, crashes and claws her way through this film , peeling back the character layer by layer until ultimately the human weakness in all of us is dealt with at it's most painful level. All human ,no self sacrificed moments for her character . She want's the prize this time . She wants her self respect back she just doesn't know how to go about it anymore. Always grasping but never obtaining.

Diana's character grows more subtlely in the movie, in strength and love, both obtained in measure by her relationships with Veroncia and Saif . Her softly overlapping layers are a stark contrast to Veronica's . She has her self respect but is constantly trying to sacrifice herself or later her love because she is somewhat conflicted by the new perceptions of her life that she is shown. Her traditional values have given her inner strength but unfortunately some of the old perceptions are also suffocating her in her new life. It's hard for her to see that she is not at fault all the time . That her strength and acceptance of all things that come at her are not helping the other people in her life be stronger. At some point she will have to stop accepting and start fighting for what SHE needs and only then can they ALL start to work at being healthier in their perspective relationships. She feels a sisterhood with Veronica and mistakenly thinks she can gift Veronica her own happiness. She can try to be there for her but she can not MAKE Veronica's life a happy one until Veronica is ready to take responsibility for her own actions. The writers are very good at making these situations felt and swap out tense moments with some music and lighter moments in attempts to keep it from being too dramatic. I liked the songs but could of done with a couple less of them but that is purely a taste thing and not a quality issue.

Saif rocks his role and manages to fulfill the balancing act of first the hilarious imp of a boyfriend to Veronica and then ultimately the slowly evolving picture of a man coming into his own adult hood and finally knowing his own mind . He grows into the man his mother knew he could be and the man they all needed him to be. Soft heart but strong back bone. They all walk away together as heroes with no total evil only flesh and blood humans with flaws present and accounted for. Lovable. Redeemable. Whole again.

Totally recommend this movie. Some great humor . Some great songs, good emotional scenes and an ending you can live with. Don't worry. It's Bollywood. That's why we watch.

I love Saif Ali Kahn's acting, when he is cast in the right role. However, Bollywood has a bad habit of casting men of Saif's age (42) in roles as much younger men. Saif's character is supposed to be a carefree 32, but even though he is a great looking guy, he doesn't look to be in his early thirties. The problem is that there really aren't a whole slew of actresses in Bollywood who are Saif's age. The ones with whom he worked and with whom he had great chemistry haven't been seen in awhilePreety Zinta, etc. It seems that once they get into their thirties, they drop off the radar and younger, newer, pretties fill their spaces. The only one who is still active, that I know of is Divya Balan. As for the actors, they stick around into their sixties. It's a shame really because Preety Zinta, Rani Mukerjee, and Ajay Devgan's wife (her name escapes me now) were a joy to watch. With no one in their age group, these guys must play younger dudes. What is supposed to be carefree and charming just doesn't play the same as when he actually was in his thirties. Saif Ali Kahn is a great actor and I think this part should have been played by someone else.

Having said all that, the acting was good in this movie. That is never an issue when Saif and Deepika are in a movie. I'm not familiar with Diana Penty but I enjoyed her performance. The plot was not one that is new to Bollywood so I knew the ending at the beginning. The songs were OK. Nothing really stuck out for me. Oh, for the days of Salaam Namaste, Hum Tum, or Parineeta. Anyway, it wasn't a waste of time and I feel many will enjoy it.

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This is a dull, cliched Disco-euphoric youth rom com, acted by 30 to 40 year olds who try way too hard to look westernized and euphorized. It reminds me vaguely of other disco-abroad-Bollies such as Salam Namasté or Hum Tum (both also with Saif Ali Khan who is too old for such fluff and performed so much better in Omkara, for instance). Stupid plot. Bland disco music by Pritam who delivered much better tunes (easy rock) for the Anurag Basu movies Barfi! and Life in a Metro.

Master lenser Anil Mehta did a great job, again. The leading ladies look gorgeous (too bad that after Om Shanti Om, Deepika Padukone seems to choose only bad roles in bad movies). The old hands Dimple Kapadia and Boman Iran do give this watery cocktail a bit of substance.

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The movie moves that I did not expect. Deepika's Maybellene replace is beautiful and did a great job. I hope we see more of her. Saif in a bra is quite a site!

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Good movie don't like saif playing such a young person though, doesn't look good. Enjoyed the movie it quite good.