THE MODERN TRIANGLE
A girl with a golden heart goes green with envy at the hands of love.
But friendship is stronger than love, goodness wins over evil, sense
prevails over sentiments. And they live happily ever after. Correct!
It’s the poetic justice in the end type of a film sans the unnecessary
emotional baggage. Yup this does seem a plot repeated from Sangam to
Saajan to Cocktail. However Imtiaz Ali brings the new age freshness to
the treatment of this tried and tested storyline.
Editing is sleek, with heavy dialogues and drama cut to the minimal,
styling is fab with all the three young icons dressed impeccably into
the character with minute detailing till the nail- from footwear to
clothes to the house decors; the hair and even the wrist bands have
received intelligent attention. The locales are breathtaking with
shooting in London and Cape town… ah don’t miss out the Desi Delhi
flavour thrown in the last scene with the yellow green auto and
references to Lajpat Nagar, the loud Punjabi Mom and nicknames like
Gutlu and Randu .. after all it’s penned by Imitiaz Ali.
Ali’s fascination with the freaky female soul is captured in Veronica,
the role that Deepika portrays magically. Padukone impresses with the
range of her acting. From the bindaas independent girl to the damsel in
distress, from the philanthropist altruistic lady to the unaffectionate
betrayed friend, she lends herself easily to the characterization of
these shades of grey.
Well there are some more positives
like the people being real. Gautam is a real flirt, Meera a real friend
and Veronica a real ‘rich bitch’ as she calls herself. An NRI setting
where a software professional always has loads of money and time to
spend on his lady loves whom he changes every night, a girl duped into
marriage by an NRI who did it only for the dowry and an NRI child whose
parents care only to send her money and don’t once make an appearance in
the whole movie even when their daughter is in the hospital. It’s only
friends our protagonists have. Friends they are till love happens, and
happens in a triangle. The chirpy humorous first half turns into a
melodramatic heavy dose post interval. The friend sacrifices for a
friend. The lover has sleepless nights, And then, the real realisations
happen and hence the reunions. However the saving grace is that the
predictable end is brought about neatly. Afterall, we have waited six
long years for Homi Adajania to direct after Being Cyrus in 2006. His
ease with the camera and understanding of the technical angle lends the
film a much needed crispness. No doubt the online promotions of Cocktail
had gone viral with the trailer receiving over two million hits in a
week of its release. Cocktail was being dubbed as one of the most
awaited releases of 2012. However it does seem to drag and one starts
fearing that like all Imtiaz Ali films even this one is not gonna end
soon. Thank God it does.
The story is very natural. Gen
X goes so far in the name of casual relationships that when the line
between flings and affairs blurs, when love happens where existed
friendship, they are bound to go thorough such ordeals. How close is
close, how much sleeping together means you can spend the life together
is something this generation does not pause to consider. Gautam is the
ultimate lady charmer with gimmicks that none from the airhostess to a
waitress to his boss can resist. His down market grooming and dirty
eating habits however make one wonder why choose a 43 year old Saif to
play this gift to womankind! Well because Cocktail is produced under
Saif Ali Khan's banner Illuminati Films. Our Hero has no morals, no
plans to settle down and no qualms about lying to his mother. He can
have any girl under the sun. He however falls for the typical shy
gharelu Meera. Oops. Is it? What is confusing is why Meera falls in love
with him whom she equates to a pig and claims to have hated no one
more. Oh yes, he praises her, flatters her face and figure, gives her
attention that probably all women crave for. Moral of the story being
you can have any woman by throwing in a couple of compliments. And how
can you have any man? Ah by being the good household material that all
mothers and yes their sons get impressed by. A Mast easy to get Veronica
loses the battle to a Seedhi sadi Meera. Deepika tells Diana once “tum
ne is ghar ko ghar bana diya hai. “ .. yup this is the quality that even
the 21st Century girl must possess to be accepted as a Bahu as a Biwi.
The typical Indian male wants a wild girl to bed and a traditional one
to wed. And as the undomesticated Veronica realizes this, she tries her
best to fit the shoes of Meera. The Biryani, Puja, Hair, Dressing all
change…Phew!
And when you are getting cooked by this
modern day shaadi gyan, Pritam’s music saves you. A blend of singers,
folk tunes, local Punjabi flavor sprinkled in and you have wonderful
foot tapping songs. Irshad Kamil’s lyrics are contemporary and set the
mood. Yaarian, Desi daru, Second hand jawani and Tumhi ho bandhu have
all chart topping quality. The album is a cocktail of desi flavor and
modern beats in the true sense. Yo Yo Honey Siingh, Miss Puja Neeraj
Shridhar, Kavita Seth, Gippy Grewal blend in this cocktail perfectly
capturing the youthfulness.
Diana Penty does fairly ok
for a debut but the director has given her the same monotonous look all
through. Deepika steals the limelight with her versatility.
Expressionless Diana and not so loveable Saif are compensated for by the
dynamic Dimple Kapadia playing the perfect Mom- intruding but
affectionate. Booman Irani does not have individuality but offers full
support to the tangled strings of the No strings attached relationships.
Chirpy one liners like “its his bun in my oven”, “You love me, I love
her” de stress even in serious situations. Anil Mehta’s Cinematography
and Sreekar Prasad’s editing are undoubtedly international. Worth a one
time watch.-
But don't try and catch the First Day First Show like me .... ah ...now you even can't ;P
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