There's quite a bit of smart casting in this movie. Saif Ali Khan plays Gautam, a charming Dilli-style flirt, a character that should come easy to him: think Hum Tum suitably Delhi-fied. Deepika Padukone plays Veronica, a sexy, tempestuous young girl, and if you've seen her bikini shots from the movie I don't need to tell you why she fits the part. And there is a former beauty queen, Diana Penty playing, well, a quiet beauty.
The three characters become good friends and thereby hangs this tale. “A story of disloyalty, friendship, love and confidence,” declares a handout for the film. Couple that with the tagline, “Some friends are too good to be shared”, and you should be able to join the dots.
If you're thinking, oh no, not again, perhaps you could take heart from some of the other names featuring in the credits. One, the story's been written by Imtiaz Ali, master of the contemporary love story, who's already had a winner with the very same Khan and Padukone in Love Aaj Kal. The songs — music by Pritam in good form, and lyrics by the always-interesting Irshad Kamil — are already a hit.
And the film is directed by Homi Adjania, whose last outing, Being Cyrus, was delightfully sharp, dark and quirky (and, bravely, in English). The question is: how well will this director, whose greatest virtue was that he was so deliciously offbeat, take to the mainstream? Hopefully, he will give this well-worn theme a new twist.
On the minus side, it's always a wary proposition when a director steps outside his comfort zone; chances are equal that the move will work or flounder. Next, unless you're a hard-core fan of the two lead actors you just might be overcome by déjà vu with the Imtiaz Ali-Saif Ali Khan-Deepika Padukone combination. Finally — this is admittedly a personal predilection — the extended shoots in London and Cape Town are a bit of a turn-off. With Hindi cinema increasingly moving back to Indian soil and getting local, gritty and real, stories set in glam foreign locales that invariably seem to have more Indians than locals, should fade away gently like a picturesque South African sun.
Hopefully, the rest of the movie will compensate.
Bottomline: How well will Homi Adjania, whose greatest virtue was that he was so deliciously offbeat, take to the mainstream?
Cocktail
Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, Diana Penty, Boman Irani, Dimple Kapadia, Randeep Hooda
Director: Homi Adajania
Releases: July 13, 2012
