MOCKTAIL

Homi Adajania,  a critically acclaimed director for his very first film, 'Being Cyrus' delivers a love story this time mixing the stardom of Saif Ali Khan (his money also), long legs of Deepika Padukone (paisa vasool), cuteness of Diana Penty, a pinch of Imtiaz Ali "salt" and some good music by Pritam (or to whomesoever concerned) making a 'COCKTAIL' out of it. Every cocktail has atleast one alcoholic (spirited) ingredient but this one lacks it and falls flat without giving you a big head.

Veronica (Deepika Padukone) is a spoiled, alcoholic, impulsive, wild, revealing, sexy girl who takes her life for granted and lives on her own terms. She meets Meera (Diana Penty), a shy, sweet and cultured Indian girl who is recovering from a hoax marriage to Kunal Ahuja (Randeep Hooda) and they start sharing the same apartment. They meet Gautam (Saif Ali Khan), a flirt of A-grade who can easily make his Japanese boss fall in love with him by saying "Do you believe in love at first sight yaa main dobaara ghum kar aaon?" Gautam and Veronica likes each other and Gautam designedly shifts into Veronica's apartment. Within no time Gautam, Veronica and Meera are good friends. The sudden change of events happen when Gautam's mother (Dimple Kapadia) and his "tharki" uncle (Boman Irani) comes to their place and are told that Meera is the girl Gautam loves as she's the one who is good cultured. Gautam falls in love with Meera in this chaos of events and on the other hand Veronica tries her best to impress Gautam's mother as she falls for Gautam and wants to get married. The unforeseen change in the characters and an unusual love triangle takes the story further.

Cocktail is one of the many films which is tailor-made for Saif Ali Khan and like always he performs brilliantly being his natural self. Be it the "OMG" expressions or the "confused lover" act, he is flamboyant throughout. Deepika Padukone's acting skills can once again be seen after 'Love Aaj Kal' and she is very much exciting and looks boombastic all the way. Diana Penty is new and looks like one but her cuteness wins hearts and nobody wants to notice her cold expressions throughout the scenes. Dimple Kapadia and Boman Irani have little roles to play and they do justice. Randeep Hooda is good but what a waste of an incredible actor.

The film has a very big label attached to it - "written by Imtiaz Ali" which eventually making people curious about the storyline as it is coming out of one of the finest storyteller's bag. "The story is not at all a new tale to tell but a stale 'cocktail' served in a new refined bottle". The film has numeous scenes giving you a Deja Vu of the 2009 blockbuster 'Love Aaj Kal' by Imtiaz Ali (it is said that Imtiaz has written Cocktail before LAK and we can surely say why he decided to make LAK over it). The screenpay is dull, unable to form the story and the characters till the interval. The first half lacks pace and it just drags making the viewers hungry for their "pop-corns" but second half picks up pace as the emotions of the characters comes out well (or the pop-corns does the magic?). Pritam's music is loved by everyone and it'll top the chartbusters for some more days. Homi Adajania's direction lacks something that Imtiaz Ali has and it shows very well.

Cocktail is a timepass film for the youth where you go and enjoy what you're served and even feel the characters as they look very real (it's Love Kal Parso btw). It is not a great film which is not to be missed rather it is just another love story which lacks spark, pace and yes, the "spirit" which transforms this COCKTAIL into a MOCKTAIL.           

BOL BACHCHAN : It will make you remember "MILK No.6"

This is no news that Rohit Shetty is totally obsessed with the 1979 epic comedy 'Gol Maal'. He made a film with the same title and continued the series making it his brand. But this time he has taken a step further and officially bought the rights of 'Gol Maal' for making it in his own way as 'Bol Bachchan'. Does he succeed? The answer is - partially. 'Bol Bachchan' is entertaining in parts and monotonous in 'participles'.

Abbas Ali (Abhishek Bachchan) and his sister Saniya (Asin Thottumkal) lives in Delhi and are fighting for their ancestral property which they eventually loses. Shastri Chacha (Asrani) advises them to move to his village Ranakpur where he can arrange a job for Abbas at his owner Prithviraj Raghuvanshi's (Ajay Devgn) place. While saving a child from drowning Abbas breaks open an ancestral temple's lock and gets into trouble where he was forced to say his name as Abhishek Bachchan and not Abbas Ali. From here starts a game of lies where to cover one lie the team of liers has to produce another lie before Prithviraj who is a kind hearted person (raam-naam) but hates liers (raam-naam satya). The game of fake identities, double roles, moustaches and mistakes officially taken from 'Gol Maal' takes the story further and it leads to the introduction of the characters like Abbas-The Gay (hamshakal) and Prithviji's sister Radhika (Prachi Desi).

The film surely works on it's performances especially Ajay Devgn who brilliantly plays his part mouthing the "maa-behen of english" dialogues raises the graph of the film to another level. Abhishek Bachchan is back after a long time and his hard work for the film shows very much. He reinvented his 'Dostana' character and plays both the characters with full enthusiasm. The girls, be it Asin or Prachi, are totally wasted even the romance quotient is missing in the film (for which the girls are used in today's films). Archana Puran Singh can be seen after quite a long gap and she's at par with her character (beating drums in your eardrums with her loud voice). Krushna Abhishek is the man to watch out for, amazing comic timing in some scenes and a beautiful chemistry with veteran actor Asrani who is brilliant as always. Neeraj Vora is a fine actor and he performs his role hilariously.

Rohit Shetty is the master of his game and he entertains a selected portion of audience making a family entertainer film. You'll not find a single vulgar dialogue or obscenity in this film which is quite a matter of appreciation in today's scenario where you think twice before taking your children for a movie. Sajid-Farhad's dialogues are worth praising especially those one-liners mouthed by Ajay Devgn which creates instant comedy. The screenplay by Yunus Sajawal is not upto the mark for a film which is assumed to be a remake of a cult film like 'Gol Maal'. Rohit Shetty could have structured this story in another scenario rather than a "pehelwan village" where the coming and going of the villain is forced just to create action sequence for which Shetty is known. In 2002, David Dhawan also tried his hand on this theme in 'Chor Machaaye Shor' with Bobby Deol in the lead creating references for this film. The music by Himesh Reshammiya and Ajay-Atul is forgettable.

The problem with 'Bol Bachchan' lies in the fact that it is more or less a remake of a film which we love so much and do not want to see the remix version of it (ever think of watching Gol Maal with crashing cars?). There's absolutely no need for slow-motioned action sequences which is an overdose for the viewers. The good thing about the film again lies in the fact that it showcases the plot which we love so much that we can watch it in any way it is served to us (Ramprasad-Laxmanprasad and the moustache is epic). 'Bol Bachchan' is a film to watch out with your family, get entertained, get relaxed, move out and then wear your brainy caps.