With the advent of globalisation it wouldn't be prudent to admit that the world has become a smaller place. It could be seen in every walk of life & Bollywood is not to be left behind as evidenced by the splurge of rom coms in the past few years. This week we have one such rom com, "Cocktail", gracing the screens with the male lead essayed by Saif Ali Khan who is undoubtedly the best in that genre. The promos has already created a hype among the youth, but it doesnt seem as if it offers anything different. Hope I am wrong...

Gautam (Saif Ali Khan) is an eternal flirt, who doesn't flinch in using his lines to good effect. His latest bed mate was Veronica (Deepika Padukone), a wild hottie who has all the guys swooning for her. Having dealt with a troubled childhood, she was always on the lookout for a good companion until she meets up with the traditional beautiful Indian lass, Meera (Diana Penty). After having learnt that she was a victim of a hoax marriage,Veronica offers her a helping land & they end up sharing the apartment. Things goes along fine between the trio until Gautam's mom Kavitha (Dimple Kapadia) comes to visit them & is made to believe that Meera was going to be her daughter-in-law. What ought to be a convenient arrangement gets all messed up when Cupid strikes between Gautham & Meera. So can they resolve it or will it mean the end of friendship between the trio???

After the off-beat "Being Cyrus" six years back, Homi Adajania is back in the reckoning with his latest venture "Cocktail". Though penned by the talented Imtiaz Ali, the film cant boast of being unique though the visuals by Anil Mehta were lively & colourful. It definitely has its moments in the first half which brings a smile upon the audience, but the latter half was a melodramatic drag. Pritam has done a pretty decent job with "Tumhi Ho Bandhu" rendered by Neeraj Sridhar & Kavita Seth along with "Daaru Desi" by Benny Dayal & Shalmali Kholgadi being the pick among the lot.

Though I did mention previously that Saif is a maestro in these kind of films, I think I might have to retract that statement as he seemed to be the weakest amongst the trio. It also could be the lack of zip in the writing as you dont feel amused or surprised by his gags, rather it gives you the feeling that you had seen it all before. Deepika was fantastic as the wild, bindaas female while Diana in addition to having a beautiful face has done a impressive job for a debutant considering that her role was the difficult one. Dimple Kapadia & Boman Irani were first rate while Randeep Hooda was wasted.

Verdict: There is no doubt that the film will have an impressive opening courtesy of the catchy promos & chart busting songs. However, the lack lustered second half will hamper its collections tremendously. It will break even but nothing more as it's collections are going to be only from Multiplexes & Overseas market. In short, there's nothing new except the songs!!!

Rating: 2.25/5

Regards...Ben

It has a free flowing first half like its free bird character of Deepika Padukone but it has confused, melodramatic second half like its other female charcater played by Diana. There is some excellent music, charming Saif Ali Khan and excellent Deepika Padukone who gives her first break out performance.