Cocktail 2 Story
Social media and technology may have brought the world closer but friends and lovers are mostly left feeling disconnected. In such a day and age, a young couple who are averse to the idea of marriage but are deeply in love, begin second-guessing their relationship. One among them enlists the help of a long-lost friend to confirm her partner’s commitment. This sets off a series of chaotic situations leading to hilarity and heartbreak.
Cocktail 2 Review
Kunal (Shahid Kapoor) and Diya (Rashmika Mandanna) have been college sweethearts, whose near-perfect love story leaves relatives and friends longing for them to officiate their relationship. But both Kunal and Diya take turns in concocting newer excuses to shut down any further chatter. During an evening with friends, while discussing the break-up of a couple in their circle (a situation evidently similar to Khel Khel Mein (2024)), Kunal’s not-so-casual brag about cheating efficiently, irks Diya. She starts overthinking and overanalysing Kunal’s words and actions, worrying that he’s avoiding marriage as he may have lost interest in her and might be cheating upon her. The lovebirds are feeling the pressure and in order to escape confrontations and reignite the excitement in their relationship, they book a holiday in Sicily.
Shahid Kapoor, Kriti and Rashmika Mandanna in Cocktail 2
Enter Alisha aka Ally (Kriti Sanon), Diya’s friend, whom she hasn’t met in a decade. Ally offers to host the couple at her home and give them a holiday worth remembering, while Diya requests her friend to seduce her boyfriend, in order to clear her doubts and confirm his loyalty. But what happens when Ally begins to fall for Kunal? Will both love and friendship pass this test?
Written by co-producer Luv Ranjan, Cocktail 2 offers a refreshing premise about the intricacies surrounding friends and lovers in the modern times, but the script painfully takes longer than expected to establish the plot. While the first half offers a picturesque detour along the coastal roads of Sicily, courtesy the beautiful frames by Santhana Krishnan Ravichandran, the dialogues written by Ranjan and Tarun Jain are incoherent throughout the film, prompting the popular Achyut Potdar reaction meme from ‘3 Idiots’.
For some strange reason, both Shahid and Kriti take turns to channelise their inner Paulo Coelho while mouthing life and relationship sermons in Sicily’s vineyards and beaches. Rashmika’s Hindi pronunciation sticks out yet again with the actress mumbling into most of her words. The second half rushes to create conflict and the resolution is so contrived and laughable, you’re left wanting to pull your hair out. Not giving away any spoilers, but while physical cheating doesn’t get glorified, the damage caused by emotional build-up isn’t accounted for. Which is pretty convenient.
Barring Pritam’s music which possibly is the singular highlight of this unnecessarily lengthy film, if only ‘Bandhu 2.0’ wasn’t included that is, you remotely care to sit till the end of the film, only for Kriti’s beautiful performance. Looking her hottest, Kriti does a fine job in balancing between different shades of Ally from vulnerable, vindictive and vivacious. Shahid unfortunately appears disinterested in his role and during a heated moment, he walks away in Kabir Singh fashion, which is unintentionally hilarious. Rashmika is much better in comparison, if one chooses to overlook the inconsistent Hindi. Of the supporting cast, only Tiku Talsania as Kunal’s father manages to get some screen-time.
Cocktail 2 Verdict
When the trailer of Cocktail 2 hit online, the comparison with the 2012 prequel starring Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone and Diana Penty, was inevitable. Not that the earlier film was a masterpiece in anyway, but each character carried a distinctive attribute about themselves, which seems missing in the new film, mostly. Deepika as Veronica is etched in the memory of millennial women, hence, Kriti earnestly does her best at not emulating any of it and she succeeds. But unlike Saif, Shahid isn’t charming nor does he make you feel that there are two women competing for his affection and attention. He doesn’t even share great chemistry with either leads, which is surprising, considering he and Kriti sizzled together in their last outing ‘Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya’. If an escapade to Sicily on the big screen with Pritam’s music and admiring Kriti’s fashion game, is your idea of fun, then Cocktail 2 could be your potent mix.
