Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, Diana Penty, Randeep Hooda, Boman Irani, Dimple Kapadia

Direction :Homi Adajania

Duration: 2 Hrs 27 Mins

Rating :***

So after a long sabbatical from rom-com league finally Saif is back with some super-light, sweet moments in a tale belonging to the patent genre of Chotte Nawab. Much awaited cine flick Cocktail opened with an occupancy of around 93 % at the multiplexes with a majority of Gen-X cine fans to welcome it.

Synopsis:
Cocktail is a Rom-com love triangle where three individuals meet each other turn friends, and then the destiny takes over. Cocktail is tale of shifting love interest where male protagonist misreads an infatuation with love, and later realises that his love interest lies somewhere else.

Story:
Meera (Diana Penty) a simple homely girl reaches London to meet her husband Kunal( Randeep Hooda), but on reaching there finds that the person is no longer keen to carry forward their marital sacrament and gets dumped by him. While undergoing this plight of life, Meera meets Veronica (Deepika Padukone) a wild-child bubbly girl for whom life means partying.

Veronica after knowing the agony of Meera offers a helping hand and takes her to her place. Despite being poles apart, the duo gets close within days of getting to know about each other.

While the life of Meera and Veronica was heading towards a calm shore, Gautam (Saif Ali Khan) a software engineer by profession enters their lives.

As the story proceeds, Gautam has a torrid affair with Veronica with no commitments norm underneath the relationship. As the frames roll ahead, Gautam starts living with Veronica and Meera with destiny espying upon to strike.

One fine day Gautam's mother Mrs. Kapoor ( Dimple Kapadia) reaches London, with intentions of getting Gautam married to a homely girl. On seeing his mother and knowing about her choice of girl, Gautam introduces Meera as the girl whom he intends to marry. And from there, the destiny takes over leading to the onset of a romantic journey amid a volley of humorous blows.


Script:
The script of Cocktail has nothing new to offer, it is more of a cine folklore draped around a Rom-Com love triangle core. At the same time one thing which could not be refused is that flow of the story is marvelous.

The monotony of the script is something which could not be negated, because love triangle is a genre which has tremendously abraded in Bollywood since the inception of Indian cinema.

So in a nutshell script of Cocktail is a worn out story which is repeatedly served by cine biggies after dabbling it in a new flavoured treacle.

Screenplay and Direction:
As far as screenplay and direction of the movie is concerned, it is simply stupendous. The first half of the movie takes off so beautifully that fans fill smitten by the flow of the story. The rib tickling humor keeps fans giggling throughout the first half.

Spontaneity and wittiness of the humor in the first half is something which leaves no scope for yawns and naps, whereas second half of the movie gets a bit swampy leading to the deterioration in the pace of the story.


Despite a worn out script, screenplay nowhere leaves any scope for asymmetry to dominate the flow of narration. Screenplay and direction of Cocktail is so compelling that it coerce the masses to keep their gazes glued to the celluloid.

Another thing that further adds on to the marvelous depiction of the story is the spontaneity and cutting edge affinity of the sequences which literally floors the cine buffs with a witty dose of humor.

As far as direction of Homi Adajania is concerned, he has handled the Rom-com love triangle with an applaudable dexterity. Cocktail nowhere showcased any larger than life experience yet the way camerawork and screenplay has been handled it's simply praiseworthy.

Acting:
So finally Saif slipped back into the kind of character he is best at. After proving his dexterity as lover-boy kind of character in cine flicks like Dil Chahata Hai, Kal Ho Na Ho, Love Aaj Kal and Salam Namaste, he has once again made it to the genre. He has once again proved that, if it's about Rom-com and romance then he is no less then other Khans of Bollywood.


As Gautam Kapoor, Saif has succeeded in leaving his impact on the fans. Though the character of Gautam Kapoor is somewhat a mix and match of the roles played by Saif earlier, but it offers a good amount of entertainment to the cine buffs, who love to see Saif in similar avatar only.

On the other hand the leggy beauty Deepika who emerged as the show stealer in Cocktail deserves to be patted for beautifully carrying the role of wild-child Veronica.

DP slipped into the character of Veronica with such an dexterity that it nowhere leaves any scope for you to think of any other actress who could have played the role with such a perfection.

After showcasing her acting skills in prior flicks like Aarakshan, Desi Boys and LoveAaj Kal she has thoroughly proved in Cocktail that she has matured a lot as an actress.

As far as the performance of debut deck Diana is concerned, she is portraying a rather difficult character of an innocent girl on her debut that leaves her fans mesmerised. Despite being on the big screen for the first time, the confidence and the elegance of this stupendous damsel seems quite irresistible.

Even the supporting cast of the Cocktail, with actors like Boman Irani and Dimple Kapadia were mesmeric. Both the veterans actors look in tremendous form where they thoroughly supplemented the hilarious sequences of the movie. Randeep Hooda didn't have much to do but whatever part he played was a praiseworthy attempt.

Music:
Pritam's music has once again succeeded in leaving a deep impact upon the masses with chart toppers like Daru Desi and Tum He Ho Bandhu. Other tracks like Yaariyan and the one inspired from Coke studio performance jugni are soulful and eternal.


BO Potential:
Cocktail despite being an old ale in new bottle is expected to keep the cash registers ringing. With an opening of around 90 percent and weekend ahead, it is expected that the movie will recover its cost of production within five days of release.

As far as being the part of 100 Cr kitty is concerned, the movie does not own that "hatke factor" in it. At the same time keeping in view the quality and quantity of entertainment, it is expected to emerge as one of the most sought after entertainers of the year.

Verdict:
To sum up, despite having a worn out script, Cocktail is a Gen Next kind of Rom-com love triangle with an impressive first half decorated with the outstanding performances of the protagonists offering a volley of rib-ticklers. So in nut shell, it's a onetime watch meant to pull the Gen-X cine buffs.