When director Homi Adjania introduced ‘Cocktail’ with Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone and Diana Penty in 2012, it was a refreshing drink for modern cinema. Even though the triangular love story was a clichéd subject for Bollywood, the film had metropolitan modernity, a sprinkling of emotions and above all, Deepika’s memorable character as ‘Veronica’, which brought the story to life.

Now, fourteen years later, the next installment of the same franchise i.e. ‘Cocktail 2’ has hit the theatres. This time the trio of Kriti Sanon, Shahid Kapoor and Rashmika Mandana is on the screen. Does this story, served in this shiny new glass, manage to attract the audience to the theaters or has it become a mere flavor mix? Let’s analyze in detail.

What is the story of ‘Cocktail 2’?

The film revolves around Kunal (Shahid Kapoor) and Diya (Rashmika Mandana), who have been in a relationship for the past 16 years. In the middle of their long relationship, they decide to spend a vacation in Sicily, Italy. Here he meets Dia’s old friend Elli (Kriti Sanon), whom she has not met for the past decade.

The story takes a strange turn when Diya suddenly starts having doubts about her long-standing relationship. Due to her insecurities towards her partner, she gives her hot and attractive friend Ellie a strange task to seduce her boyfriend.

Twist: Elli initially tries to convince Diya, but due to Diya’s stubborn and strange behavior, Kunal gradually drifts away from her and closer to Elli.

Confrontation: As the audience guesses, Elli actually falls in love with Kunal. After this, the relationship between the friends begins to break down like a house of cards and Kunal remains like a ‘trophy’ between them. The whole movie breaks the principle of “sisters before masters”.

Actors’ performances

Kriti Sanon (Elle)

Kriti Sanon is portrayed in a very glamorous and stylish manner throughout the film. The stylist has worked hard on her look, outfit and hairstyle, which is clearly visible on screen. However, the character of ‘Elli’, despite being the heaviest on Kriti’s shoulders, fails to leave a deep impression due to the weakness of the script. She seems to shine only as the ‘golden girl’, behind whom the emotions seem incomplete.

Shahid Kapoor (Kunal)

Despite being a great actor, Shahid Kapoor had very limited scope to act in this film. Her character is only used as a prize between the two actresses. The narrative of the film does not give the audience a chance to understand the depth of his character. However, Shahid gets a little chance to show his acting prowess in the last 15 minutes of the climax, where he impresses.

Rashmika Mandanna (Dia)

Rashmika Mandana has been completely misused in this film. Her screen presence, dialogue delivery and attire look quite poor. Her character is that of an insecure girlfriend who, instead of trusting her boyfriend, falls for her friend’s tricks. Due to this weakness of character writing, the audience does not feel connected to them.

Music, direction and dialogue

The strongest aspect of this film is its music (soundtrack). The songs like ‘Mashuka’, ‘Walla’ and ‘Tujhko’ from the film are brilliant and keep the audience engaged in the background.

A relief: this time the makers did not make the mistake of making a loud remix of ‘Tum Hi Ho Bandhu 2.0’. This classic song is used for very short periods without any unnecessary manipulation, which is soothing to the ears.

Talking about the direction, Homi Adjania’s approach is as always to show the modern and western elite (first-world problems). But this time the structure of the characters has been very crude. An effort has been made to keep the dialogues very simple and contemporary. For example this dialogue is striking: “Love is like a torn T-shirt in which we sleep comfortably.”

Cocktail 2: What’s good and what’s not

‘Cocktail 2’ will make you believe for a while that the world is beautiful and all you have to do is withdraw money from your savings account, go on a dream vacation and forget what happened there. But don’t get too comfortable – the film soon brings you back to reality, the same reality most of us are trying to escape.

Also, if you’re a fan of Kriti Sanon, you’ll enjoy watching her on screen — and maybe even more fun watching her work as a stylist. There are some moments that are truly memorable, like when Ellie hugs a stranger and is moved to tears in return. It feels heartwarming and a little bleak at the same time. Why? Because if it was Veronica, we would understand where these feelings were coming from. Behind the glamor and the show was a deeply broken woman, deeply wounded by her relationship with her parents. There was a story behind it.

But in Ellie’s case, we’re left only guessing. Why did he cry? What is going on in his mind? The film doesn’t even try to tell us that. The film focuses so much on its three main characters and their real, ‘first-world’ problems that it fails to properly show them as people we’re supposed to feel for.

The screenplay wants everything to look great and grand, but at some point it all starts to feel too much. Every frame is filled with attitude, heartbreak, romance, pity and passion, all vying for attention at the same time. And as the saying goes, too much of nothing is good.

Cocktail 2: The Final Verdict

Some cocktails just get better with time. Some can only be enjoyed once. ‘Cocktail 2’ tries its best to recreate the magic of its predecessor, but amidst the designer clothes, lavish vacations, emotional ups and downs and the same old relationship drama, it forgets what made the original so fun. It looks expensive and looks good and has enough glamor to fill your Instagram feed, but when the addiction wears off, you’re left wondering what you actually saw.

It is a cocktail that goes down the throat easily but tastes so good that you soon forget about it. It’s neither completely bland nor spectacular – just a drink that would have been better with less garnish and a little more soul.

2.5 out of 5 stars for ‘Cocktail 2’.