Cocktail has become a blockbuster now and accolades have been showered upon it by several reviewers. I watched it quite late. I was expecting it to be as good as Love Aaj Kal but the way Ek Main Aur Ek Tu could not be Jab We Met, the same way Cocktail could not be Love Aaj Kal. My expectations were not fulfilled.

It's a hackneyed story containing the love triangle of one boy and two girls. But the problem is that the boy is no longer a boy. I have always been an admirer of Saif Ali Khan and never in any earlier movie, I have found him so irritating and dislikable. It's not his fault, it's the casting director's fault who alongwith him, conveniently overlooked this fact that age has taken over him and now he appears too old to play the role of a lover boy. His role is akin to his role in Yeh Dillagi (1994) but the thing is that at the time of Yeh Dillagi, Saif was in his early twenties whereas now he is in his forties. The aggravated trouble is that he is actually in his early forties but his face has become that of a man in his late forties.

The director - Homi Adjania seems to have got confused between making a comedy and making a serious love story. That's why where the first half is something like a comedy containing everything over the top, the second half is an intense love-triangle. The first half does not deserve to be called a rom-com. Instead, it should be called an irricom (i.e., an irritating comedy). At many places, during the first half I could not understand as to what the director is willing to show and why he is wasting time. He could have saved a few reels in the first half (and the second half as well) and made a shorter movie.

The second half is better and emotionally appeals but again, it contains some unexplainable things. The hero and the second heroine (Diana Penty) are having completely different personalities and approach towards life and dislike each other but adjust only due to the common friend Veronika (Deepika Padukone). Then all of a sudden they fall in love. How ? Just because of a kiss that spontaneously takes place between them. Should we rely upon this ? Difficult for me at least.

Further, when the love-triangle is known to all of its angles, i.e., the threesome, Veronika declares to move aside from the path of the other two because ultimately one has to be the loser. However thereafter she feels the intensity of love in her heart for the hero and messes everything up. But again, she repeats the same thing to repair the situation, thus bringing everything back to square one. This rollback type action may suit the Indian finance ministers, not the educated and sensible heroine of a modern movie.

There is a lot of boredom in the first half and a lot of dragging in the second half. Veronika's accident seems to be imposed on the story to add a few reels because the script-writers could not think of something normal to take the story ahead and towards its logical conclusion.

The movie has been concluded in the style of Love Aaj Kal but it does not impress even half of LAK. I remember that I had shed many tears during my watching of LAK in theatre but while watching Cocktail I was feeling as if some (ridiculous) comedy was being shown in the name of sentiments. So artificial ! So plastic ! Emotions when forcefully thrown on the narrative, can't impress the spectators. And that's the case with this movie.

The locations of London and other places have been portrayed beautifully. And that's a plus point. Preetam's music is another one which is completely in sync with the mood of the movie. Tumheen Din Chadhe Tumheen Din Dhale is definitely the best song whereas Yaariyaan and Jugni also impressed me a lot. Background score is also in order.

As said earlier, aging Saif Ali Khan is miscast in his role and even his look is quite repelling. His character seems to have come from some other world who can flirt with any girl any time (only the director may be knowing how that's possible). Deepika Padukone has got a lot of praise for her performance but she has performed well because her role is an author-backed one. Else, the truth is that she has exposed more than performing. Her hairdo in most part of the movie reminds of a witch. New face - Diana Penty adds value to the movie. She is charming and has performed well too. Boman Irani has done well but will the director tell me what's the significance of his role ? Randeep Huda seems to have been given a role to perform like Rahul Khanna in LAK but he is also miscast and does not fit the bill of the role. Dimple Kapadia has done whatever she was asked to do. She is over the top for most part of her role.

My final verdict - this movie has its moments in the second half and certain sequences are certainly impressive. Since Veronika's character tells how it feels to lose in the game of love, the losers in love may be able to relate to it. This flawed movie is a one time watch only. It's name is cocktail but actually it's a mocktail with only the look of a cocktail sans any intoxication for its consumer.