Philosophy and non-trivial conversations are the ends. A love triangle and non-funny jokes are the means.

quick review:

Hardly a shocker that the ends don’t justify the time and energy spent on the means, despite some good performances and better ambience.
Streaming Platform: Netflix

Review

Boy meets immature girl. Boy meets another immature girl. Does that make the boy mature? The tone of the film makes you feel that that’s what the makers are implying. But intentionally or not, they touch upon a trait that the boy has that puts a question mark on the whole premise. If he knows what he wants so clearly, why is he stalling? But that is not why Cocktail 2 was made. The movie wanted to bring some profound conversations to screen. Pretty much everything else comes across as fillers.

That the movie wanted to have conversations at all is the biggest takeaway for me. It is not the norm, right? Stories set in beautiful locations showcasing the urban and/or bohemian lifestyle don’t usually have their heart in any part of the writing. Here at least there was life in these dialogues between characters. Even though you know that the good lines from the first half are all foreshadowing for a comeback post-interval. And hey, what do you know, there is some meat even in the final monologue.

Other than that, there is a spark in the montage that goes with the titles. It is not just moments stuck together but marks the age and situates the time-frame of the story. The writing also uses loudness well to bring the catastrophisation experienced by a character to the viewers.

The film’s attempts at humour, though, fall flat. Except for one short, fun scene with Ally (Kriti Sanon) making fun of good boys with film names, the rest are slapsticky, out of place with the tone of the rest of the film, or lame innuendoes. That Shahid Kapoor is being taught to dance is funny though!

Other than that, the broader writing is easy to oversimplify as yet-another-love-triangle. I’ve never found the concept of a love triangle itself appealing—one of those things that I don’t ‘get’ like horror or sexual slapstick. Or maybe I haven’t yet encountered a story that explores the potential of the central character truly being at the centre of the two choices. If, from the word go, you know who they are going to pick, what is even the point? No? Is it even a triangle if one side doesn’t exist?

Especially when you don’t really know the real reason for that choice. Almost always, the person who the protagonist decides to go with is the most superficially written. At least, Cocktail 2 unlike most others in the genre that take it as a given, has Kunal (Shahid Kapoor) “tell” us why he likes who he likes. Maybe, the next one will also “show” us. Then there is this whole business of owning a life-partner with the “yours” and “mine” language. Always brings cringe.

Anyway, given that the film has been made, I am thankful that it sinks its teeth a little deeper into relationships. Actually, in these times when three out of four films seem to be driven by propaganda or messaging, I am just happy to watch something else.

And Cocktail 2 is good for the other senses. You are looking at beautiful people in exquisite settings. The camerawork with its gorgeous framing beautifully enhances the natural light. The music is peppy and almost a constant. The lyrics of most of the songs are above the ordinary.

Also, even if we question why Kunal is the way he is, Shahid Kapoor plays the quiet and “mature” Kunal well enough to make you want to shake him so that he starts speaking. And unless the scenes in which he is shown as a college student are from historic footage, boy, can this 40+-year-old surely pass off as a late-teen!

I would mark this as one of Kriti Sanon‘s better performances. For one, she is asked to be more than a doll and she is up to the task. Rashmika Mandanna‘s act, on the other hand, is a downer. It feels like she is going through the motions. It doesn’t help that there is something off with her dubbing.

Cocktail 2 ends with making us dislike both women, but at least they stay in character as they do so. Why does the man wait for the pimple to grow into an abscess that is waiting to burst? Maybe there is some resemblance to real life, after all.

– meeta, a part of the audience

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