Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Kriti Sanon, Rashmika Mandanna, Tiku Talsania, Neelu Kohli, Kannan Arunachalam, Suparna Marwah Directed by: Homi Ad...
Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Kriti Sanon, Rashmika
Mandanna, Tiku Talsania, Neelu Kohli, Kannan Arunachalam, Suparna Marwah
Directed by: Homi Adjania
Music by: Pritam
Rating: 2.5/5
Homi Adajania’s films have this
specific feel to them that’s hard to come across in Bollywood: the laid back
summer aesthetic that both Finding Fanny and Cocktail, and even
Angrezi Medium, boasted off, that seem so close to Éric Rohmer’s style —
including the lengthy conversations as well, albeit Adajania’s dialogues don’t
possess the same nuance or the depth that Rohmer’s possessed — yet so distant
(albeit, its kind of audacious of me to assume that they’re on the same
wavelength, or were made for, even remotely, the same reasons).
Whilst the dialogues in Cocktail
(2012) didn’t feel sluggish or forced to the extent that the ones in Cocktail 2
do, the dialogues in both the films aim to achieve the same moral high ground
that’s explicitly rooted in the conservative tradition. Both the films, quite
sluggishly, come to the same point: the girl who parties is the immature one,
whilst the one who’s a little more “homely” and “boring” is the mature one,
hence making the latter the perfect candidate for marriage;
this messaging in particular, is what drags the film down eventually, as
everything that takes place is forced to work around this conservative
ideology, and the measures Adajania takes to make this as explicit as possible
is quite jarring: the party girl wears shorter clothes and is often seen is
bikinis and has had tons of purely physical relationships, whilst the other one
is never seen in short clothes (an obscene thing by conservative standards),
and hasn’t had many (if any other than the current one) relationships. The
party girl is carefree with seemingly no aim in life, whilst the “better"
one has a job, is good with finances and has a clear aim in life. This stark
and dumb contrast is what kickstarts the drama: the clash of two ideologies,
or, more aptly put, the clash between an ideology and the caricature of what it
thinks the opposite ideology embodies. This was explicit in the first one,
where Deepika Padukone creates a scene after getting drunk and Diana Penty is
the one who soothes her (if she’s more maternal, how on earth can she not be
the better one!); and in this, Kriti Sanon is quite literally an alcoholic
(who never seems to get drunk?) while Rashmika Mandanna isn’t seen drinking
more than once (maybe twice). And Shahid Kapoor — around whom the female leads’
lives revolve — is portrayed as this saintly figure, who is the epitome of what
a “man” should be.
The jokes, like the first one,
don’t really land and come off as awkward (especially since the characters are
well into their 30s, and the dialogues sound extremely adolescent), but in
this, feel forced as well. The entire progression of the plot feels forced and
unnatural, and Shahid Kapoor’s character is written as extremely stupid and one
who can’t read the room or decode expressions, and isn’t fleshed out at all.
The female leads on the other hand are better fleshed out (sure), but they’re
extremely childish in the way they act and speak. The direction is not good
either; it feels unfocused and rushed, and aimless: the establishing shots of
Sicily look like they’re pulled straight out of a YouTube vlog, and compiled it
in the most passable fashion possible. Add to that the very unnecessarily
sluggish pace the film adopts, and it makes it a truly boring experience to get
through. Add to that the fact that this is quite literally the same film from
14 years ago in its themes, and more or less, the plot, just slightly changed,
which is enough to make it seem new and modern, and its an unfulfilling
experience along with a boring one.
After a decade and a half together, Diya and Kunal’s
relationship is shaken when Ally, an old friend, re-enters their lives. What
begins as a plan between two women spirals into chaos, triggering hilarious,
emotional rollercoaster none of them saw coming.
By Ravit Mishra
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