Cocktail

cocktailWatched the movie on Monday night, late night show, in one of the first multiplexes of Ahmedabad (or rather India) of which I have quite a few fond memories.

Now coming back to the movie review, I can sum up the entire film in one word but I don’t think it would be fair to my readers.

The film revolves around the lives of three people, Gautam Kapoor (Saif Ali Khan), Veronica (Deepika Padukone) and Meera (Diana Penty). It’s a sheer coincidence that their lives intersect and they start living together. Gautam is an incorrigible flirt and womaniser who believes marriage to one woman is a stale concept. Veronica, a rich spoilt kid with heart of gold, lives in an urbane locale of London where booze, drugs, parties and sex are the norms of life. And Meera is a demure conservative girl from Delhi who comes to London looking for her husband, Kunal (Randeep Hooda) who she comes to know later had married her for the dowry. Veronica takes the pretty waif under her shelter. Next, enters Gautam oozing his charm and within no time he moves in with Veronica in a ‘’no-string’’ relationship. Meera is not very comfortable with the situation but takes it in her stride. So now the three of them live under the same roof, eat, sing, and do masti. Next, we know Gautam falls in love with the simpleton Meera while Meera realizes her feelings for him. To make the matters worse, Veronica wants to mend her ways and bite the forbidden apple of marriage with Gautam.

After this point, the movie becomes a too-hot-to-handle hot pot of confused and melodramatic emotions with Gautam oscillating between the two girls, Veronica playing the perfect bitch (sorry for the language) and Meera ready to sacrifice her love for her best friend Veronica (for God’s sake guys, move over the histrionics of 70s).

Saif is good and convincing in his role of a womaniser, caring friend and helpless lover. Diana is very pretty and good in parts. But the news guys, Deepika can act. Yes actually, the wooden face did show some expressions. This should be her best movie so far in terms of acting. Dimple provides a welcome commotion while Boman Irani and Randeep Hooda are completely wasted.

The songs in the movie save a few (daaru desi, tum hi ho bandhu and jugni) fail to impress much. And for the dialogues, when Meera threw a line like “main apni friend ko dhokha nahi de sakti, Gautam. Tum mujhe bhool jaao”, I nearly went into hysterics.

It could have been an enjoyable drama had the complex feelings and emotions been subtly and deeply portrayed. What could have been a heady cocktail lost its fizz somewhere in the middle.

And though movie tickets are sinfully cheap in Ahmedabad, I could feel my money going down the drain with each passing minute.

Verdict: Watch the movie at your own peril.

And now for that single word that wraps up the film, ‘’BAKWAS’’.