Cocktail (2012 film)

Priyanka Chopra was the original choice for the role of Veronica, but was ultimately not cast due to creative issues.[9] Deepika Padukone and Imran Khan were initially signed on to play the leads in the film, after their chemistry in the promos of Break Ke Baad struck a chord with the youth.[10] However, the latter declined the film and was consequently replaced by Saif Ali Khan, who decided to also produce the film under his production house Illuminati Films.[11][12] Padukone was offered both the roles of Veronica and Meera, however the character of Meera was similar to her role in Love Aaj Kal (2009) and so she chose the role of Veronica as a challenge.[13] Model Diana Penty, who was earlier supposed to play the female lead in Imtiaz Ali's Rockstar (2011), was later signed on to Cocktail instead, on Ali's suggestion, and thus made her debut in Bollywood.

Shooting of the film started at the end of May 2011, in London. Many scenes have been shot indoors, although the crew primarily filmed on the streets of London. Locations of the filming in London include Borough High Street, Borough Market, Portobello Road, Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus, Mayfair, Clapham Junction, Battersea Park, Bank Station, St. Paul's London, Colville Gardens (Notting Hill) and Brick Lane. The film was also shot in Cape Town, South Africa.[14] Padukone has gyrated to a Punjabi party song ("Main Sharaabi") at The Clapham Grand nightclub in Clapham Junction, by dancing on a table. This is reminiscent of a dance sequence in the song "Chor Bazaari" from Love Aaj Kal (2009). Whilst security was extra tight on the day to prevent outsiders entering the premises, a DJ was hired for the music and club lights were also used to make the scene look as real as possible.

Earlier, it was reported that the theatrical trailer of the film would be attached to the prints of Khan's previous home production Agent Vinod (2012),[15] although the makers decided against this for unknown reasons. The official trailer was eventually launched on 21 May 2012, to a phenomenal response from critics and audiences, crossing 1 million hits on YouTube within 3 days.

Director, Homi Adajania promoting Cocktail, July 2012

Rubina A. Khan of Firstpost gave the movie 4/5 stars, saying that "Cocktail is a contemporary film that reflects life as it happens all around us…. just as crazy, twisted, beautiful, funny, weird and lonely as anyone's life can be. It's about easy choices and hard decisions and how life still goes on, despite it all. It's a cocktail you definitely wanna try!"[16]

Khalid Mohamed of Deccan Chronicle gave the movie 3.5/5 stars, concluding that "Whatever the flaws and dips in energy-level, Cocktail is a feel-wonderful movie. Shake it, stir it and get nicely woozy."[17] Meena Iyer of Times of India gave the movie 3.5/5 stars, commenting that "What Cocktail should be truly applauded for is its permissiveness. As a film it breaks shackles and ushers in a new free spirit that Gen-Now will relate to."[18] Aniruddha Guha of DNA India gave the movie 3.5/5 stars, stating that "The best thing about Cocktail is that it is as different as a film can get within a very conventional format. My favorite scene has Gautam talk to Veronica and Meera together about his feelings towards each of them. "Look. You love me. I love her. Let's sort this mess out." A rare moment in Hindi cinema!"[19] Anupama Chopra of Hindustan Times gave the movie 3.5/5 stars, commenting that "This cocktail is full of fizz."[20]

Nabanita Roy of One India gave the movie 3/5 stars, concluding that "On the whole, Cocktail is colourful, fascinating and attention-grabbing. Though the movie suffers a few loopholes, but, you definitely can't ignore the threesome magic of Dippy-Saif-Diana."[21] Resham Sengar of Zee News gave the movie 3/5 stars, stating that "Cocktail is worth a try!"[22] Devesh Sharma of Filmfare gave the movie 3/5 stars, concluding that "All-in-all, it's a nice urban romance. But again, this isn't how I would like to describe a Imtiaz-Homi collaboration. You expected something with a twist, what you get is a pat too sweet – a Bloody Mary without the Vodka."[23] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave the movie 3/5 stars, commenting that "Cocktail has just the right mix of fizz and flavour to allow the occasional and inevitable crinkles of triteness to flow well below the surface. It is definitely worth a visit to the multiplex."[24] Vinayak Chakravarthy of India Today gave the movie 3/5 stars, concluding that "If Cocktail works, it is mainly for the characters Imtiaz has penned well as the cool with which the lead stars live them on screen."[25] Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the movie 3/5 stars, saying that "On the whole, COCKTAIL has a fascinating first-half, charismatic performances, harmonious music and the trendy look and styling as its aces, but the second-half is not as tempting or intoxicating as the first hour. It pales when compared to the attention-grabbing first-hour. Yet, all said and done, this one's primarily targeted at the Gen Next, especially those in metros, who might identify with the on-screen characters."[26] Blessy Chettiar of DNA India gave the movie 3/5 stars, stating that "You can't hate a film like Cocktail nor can you love it in totality. If you've liked Ali's storytelling before, there's no harm in catching it at least once. Cheers!"[27]

Bollywood Life gave the movie 2.5/5 stars, stating that "As for the film – very niche, very easy on the eye and ear and a lot of the time, very fun."[28] Kaushik L.M of Behind Woods gave the movie 2.5/5 stars, concluding that "The light-hearted fun and romance resurrect this cocktail."[29] Shubhra Gupta of Indian Express gave the movie 2.5/5 stars, concluding that "Cocktail is nice while the fizz lasts."[30] Roshni Devi of Koimoi gave the movie 2.5/5 stars, saying that "Cocktail is a nice and enjoyable movie for the dialogues, songs and performances. But the second-half is a real drag."[31]

Sonia Chopra of Sify gave the movie 2/5 stars, stating that "Drink this cocktail if you must; but be warned, the concoction isn't as appetizing as it looks!"[32] That's So Gloss! echoed this criticism in a review, stating: "[Cocktail] says it's okay when the guy does it, but when a lady does the same thing, she is immoral, and society must punish her in some way. A textbook example of a "double-standard"."[33] Martin D'Souza of GlamSham gave the movie 2/5 stars, saying that "It's a cocktail alright, but one which lacks punch. A flat drink with no fizz and lots of salt at the rim of the glass which knocks you back with its sting."[34] Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave the movie 2/5 stars, concluding that "I'm going with 2 out of 5 for director Homi Adajania's Cocktail. With the right ingredients in the right proportions, this might have made for a smooth concoction. But Cocktail is a mostly-flat romance; one that could've done with more heart."[35] Janhavi Samant of MidDay gave the movie 2/5 stars, stating that "There are people who love films about free-falling NRIs, who have jobs but never seem to work, who love the thrills of casual sex but only till they find a desi wife who will serve home-cooked food, and who can go to Cape Town from London for just a weekend, and whose biggest crisis is to decide if what they feel is 'true' love. But this critic ain't one of them."[36] Suparna Sharma of Deccan Chronicle gave the movie 2/5 stars, commenting that "Cocktail, because of its high sugar content, initially gives a heady rush, but leaves a bad hangover."[37] Raja Sen of Rediff gave the movie 2/5 stars, commenting that "It's a pity, and not just because this could have been the great unconventional cinematic threesome we so desperately need. Cocktail has a handful of moments and a few genuine sparks, but finally crashes and burns so spectacularly that it's hard to focus on the positives. We must thank it, thus, for Diana Penty."[38]

Kunal Guha of Yahoo! gave the movie 1.5/5 stars, stating that "One of the chief reasons why this cocktail fails to hit your sweet spot is because you don't empathize with any of the characters. There could be many reasons for this but to point one: none of them seem worthy of your attention and concern. Still keen to figure out who Saif ends up with? Why don’t you deduce it yourself like any mature adult would? I would recommend the scientific method used to pick item girls in films lately: Eenie Meenie…"[39] Mayank Shekhar of Daily Bhaskar gave the movie 1.5/5 stars, concluding that "You feel worse for Saif aged 42. It's hard to tell how every woman he meets in the movie gets turned on by his random charms. The world is his playground. He still makes it seem vaguely convincing. Here's a big league actor at the top of his form. Look at his recent films: Agent Vinod, Aarakshan (2011), Kurbaan (2009). Forget those films. Just check out his performances. He could do with much better movies. Surely. Seriously."[40]

The music album of Cocktail received highly positive reviews. "Tumhi Ho Bandhu", "Daaru Desi" and "Second-Hand-Jawaani", which featured the 3 leads became chartbusters. "Tumhi Ho Bandhu" paved the way to #1 at the Radio-Mirchi Top-100 Countdown.

Cocktail had an excellent opening of 75–80% on average at multiplexes and having bumper opening at many multiplexes of North India at around 100%.[42] The film had a very good first day as it collected around ₹108 million (US$1.5 million) nett on day 1.[43] It showed good growth on Saturday as it collected ₹118 million (US$1.7 million) nett.[44] Cocktail had an extraordinary weekend at multiplexes than single screens as it notched up business of around ₹36.7 million (US$510,000) nett from both.[45] Cocktail held up well on Monday as it collected around ₹60 million (US$840,000) nett[46] Cocktail collected around ₹50 million (US$700,000) nett on Tuesday . The business after 5 days is approx ₹468 million (US$6.6 million) nett.[47] Cocktail did good business in its first week as it collected ₹545 million (US$7.6 million) nett approx at the domestic box office, making it the first multiplex-targeted film to cross the ₹500 million (US$7.0 million) mark in the first week.[48] Cocktail grossed ₹173 million (US$2.4 million) nett approx in week 2.[49] Cocktail fell badly in its third week due to new releases. The film has collected ₹730 million (US$10 million) nett in 3 weeks. It was declared a box-office hit.[7] In the domestic market, its final figures came at ₹750 million (US$11 million).[50] The film's final all-India distributor share was ₹373 million (US$5.2 million)[51]

Cocktail opened well in overseas markets. The opening was around $2.6 million.[52] Cocktail dropped in its second weekend and has grossed ₹207 million (US$2.9 million) in 10 days.[53] The film eventually collected US$4.50 million overseas.[54]