Cocktail 2

A breezy love triangle elevated by Shahid and Kriti's charm

Cocktail 2 is a not so perfect love triangle, but a contemporary film that you must try. Despite all its drawbacks Shahid Kapoor shines in the film. Just a one-time watch, but keep your brains locked up in the cupboard.

The original Cocktail was messy too, but it had heart and characters you cared about. This spiritual successor has the gloss, the glamour, but not the emotional punch. Some drinks are best served once.

The visual polish and big ideas cannot hide the weak emotional stakes in Shahid Kapoor, Kriti Sanon and Rashmika Mandanna-starrer. The story follows a long-term relationship disrupted by a glamorous new entrant, but the script belongs on reality TV rather than the big screen.

Cocktail 2 is like old wine in a not-so-new bottle that we've tasted too many times. This film is too polished, too picture perfect, too luminous and too worried about looking fashionable all the time to dig deep into the emotional chaos, intricacies and contradictions of relationships.

As long as its purpose of throwing everyone on the dance floor as they flaunt their toned abs in fancy clothes is served, Cocktail 2 doesn't feel obliged to make any sense. For all its bold, brash, bronze-bodied imagery of relationships in the digital age, Cocktail 2 is just as shy of breaking stereotypes as its 'spiritual' predecessor.

Kriti Sanon and Rashmika Mandanna struggle to lend empathy to two of the most off-putting female protagonists in recent times, in a frustrating rom-com that’s too flippant and incurious

In Homi Adajania's Cocktail 2, Shahid Kapoor's loyal, nice Kunal falls into the snare his long-term partner, Diya (Rashmika Mandanna) sets. She gets paranoid about his infidelity which is telegraphed in a distasteful montage designed to be comic. The couple dutifully sticks to boundaries while Ally blasts in as a gale through the tameness, force of habit which Diya and Kunal's relationship had sloughed into.

Cocktail 2 is a visually appealing romance packed with picturesque Italian backdrops, stylish costumes and attractive leads. However, the flimsy premise, unconvincing relationships and shallow storytelling make it hard to stay invested.

A love triangle bereft of taste and spirit.

The heavily laboured love triangle here is between Kunal's saintliness, Diya's anxiety and Ally's aggressive sexuality. The women appear sillier and sillier as the 150-minute film drags on with seemingly no end in sight.

Fourteen years after Deepika Padukone danced barefoot on our heartstrings as the chaotic, unforgettable Veronica, Homi Adajania returns to the bar with Cocktail 2 but ends up serving a lukewarm mocktail of ideas and aesthetics. The concoction lacks the intoxicating emotional depth of the original and the sharp, unapologetic punch of a Ranjan comedy. The tragedy of Cocktail 2 is that it treats its audience exactly the same way. It is a messy cupboard of a movie, but instead of feeling comforting, it just feels exhaustingly predictable.