Cocktail - A compelling watch. Recommended!!

Movie - Cocktail (Malayalam)

Director - Arun Kumar

Producer - Milan Jaleel

Cast - Jayasurya, Anoop Menon, Samvritha Sunil, Fahadh Fazil, Innocent, Aparna Nair.

Music - Alphonse, Ratheesh Vega

Background Score - Ratheesh Vega

Cinematography - Pradeep Nair

Story, Screenplay - Shyam Menon

Dialogues - Anoop Menon

Editing - Arun Kumar

Art - Prashanth Madhav

Costumes - Velayudhan Keezhillam

Release Date - 22nd October 2010

Cocktail was announced as Jayasurya's and Anoop Menon's foray into film production and Priyadarshan's trusted editor Arun Kumar's foray into direction. But then, the credit list of the movie says that Milan Jaleel is its producer. Whoever the producer may be, the team has come up with a more than decent movie which is probably the best bet among the movies released after Ramzan. Arun Kumar, following his guru's footsteps, has taken a Hollywood movie as an inspiration for his first directorial venture. Cocktail is a faithful rip-off of Butterfly on a Wheel (Pierce Brosnan, Gerard Butler - 2007). [I havent seen the original. Have just heard bits and pieces of the story]. The movie is adapted well into Malayalam, but what it lacks is the energy and raciness required for a movie of this genre. Nevertheless, it is quite an effective movie which would go down well with a niche audience. 

Ravi (Anoop Menon) and Parvathi (Samvritha Sunil) are happily married and are leading a wonderful life with their 6 year old daughter Ammu. Ravi is rapidly climbing up the stairs of success in both real estate and construction business, thanks to him being in the good books of his young boss Naveen (Fahadh Fazil). And one day, Ravi and Parvathy leave their daughter at home under the care of a new babysitter Beatrice and leave - Ravi for an official meeting and Parvathy for a kitty party. On the way, they offer a lift to a stranger (Jayasurya) and within minutes, their lives go topsy-turvy. Cocktail tells the story of how this stranger plays with the lives of the couple. 

Cocktail has a pretty compelling storyline. It does not deviate from the main plot except during a totally unwanted item song. But still, the movie is not racy enough for a thriller like this. It could have been much much better if it had some more energy in it. Having said that, it tackles a theme which is very relevant in city life today (which if mentioned here would spoil the suspense) and portrays it effectively as well. Shyam Menon has adapted the storyline from the Hollywood original into Malayalam impressively. The movie's best part is its climax after a not-so-good pre-climax portion. The dialogues by Anoop Menon are brilliant. It is very tough to write natural dialogues in Malayalam (with a liberal dose of English) and Anoop Menon is a master at it. The dialogues are one of the best aspects in the movie. The F word is used rather liberally and thankfully it sounds authentic since most characters in the movie speak good English. 

It is refreshing to see the life of a rich upper class family in Malayalam Cinema, which normally keeps telling stories of poverty, the mandatory japthi and all that. Cocktail tells the story of the elite families in the state (especially in Kochi) and how their lives are. People speaking great English without an accent, a wife who goes for kitty parties, a corporate office environment, and many such things associated with the elite are portrayed in this movie, which is a first in Malayalam Cinema. And will go down very well with the upper middle class and elite crowd in the audience. 

Samvritha Sunil comes up with the best performance in the movie, which is also her career best. She looks gorgeous, acts brilliantly and wears some lovely costumes. Most importantly, she's very comfortable playing mother to a six year old. Jayasurya also gives a deadly performance in the movie. His role, with grey shades is sure to receive applause from the audience. He proves again that he's probably the best among the present young crop of actors. He does not have any airs about that and still plays all the different characters he gets, be it a hero or a villain or a comedian or a supporting actor, and shines in all of them. Anoop Menon is inconsistent. He's brilliant at portions and very ordinary in some others. He reminds one of Mohanlal, Mammootty and Suresh Gopi all at the same time and there's a heavy Mohanlal hangover in many of the emotional scenes. (He put that to good use in Thirakkatha and Pakal Nakshatrangal earlier). Otherwise, his performance is good. The credibility of the movie lies upon the performances of its 3 main leads and they pull it off quite well. Fahadh Fazil is highly impressive in a cameo. Innocent is not convincing as a Palakkad Iyer. Aparna Nair is okay. Kani Kusruti is good. The junior artiste who played a very important character Beatrice, was unintentionally funny.  And thankfully they did away with Suraaj Venjarammoodu who was also supposed to be a part of the movie. 

Director Arun Kumar is heavily influenced by his mentor Priyadarshan, in a positive way. Almost every frame in the movie is beautiful and the movie has some great visuals. And the beautifully shot 'Neeyam Thanalinu' stands testimony to the director's eye for great visuals. He could have made the movie racier, especially since he is the editor of the movie as well. The desperate situation of the couple doesnt come across that effectively in some key scenes. Otherwise, his handling of the subject is very good and the effective climax more than makes up for the not-so great portions before that. And as we have forgiven his guru for lifting plots from other movies, we should forgive him too, since he has done a good job at that. 

Music of the film is very good. 'Neeyam Thanalinu' is one of the best songs in recent Malayalam film music. Ratheesh Vega is a great find, and he excels in that song as well as the background score. Alphonse's 'Vennilavumivide' is a brilliant situational song, which also plays out during the end credits. The item was song was bad and totally uncalled for. Cinematography by Ravi K Chandran's erstwhile assistant Pradeep Nair is brilliant. The film looks great, thanks to him. Art direction by Prashant Madhav is very good. And the costumes by Velayudhan Keezhillam are amazing. Its such a relief to see actors wearing such nice clothes on screen other than the loud and colourful costumes we are used to in Malayalam films. 

Cocktail is a drastically different film from the same kind of movies offered to us friday after friday at the movie halls. A very good attempt by the whole team, it should be appreciated and promoted well to get the success it deserves. It could have been much much better, but still it impresses in its present form. A strong social message about families and values are also given out through the film. Watch it, you wouldnt be disappointed. 

Rating - 3.5/5

P.S. - I liked the fact that Jayasurya has christened his fans association as Jayasurya Friends association. Makes him more closer to them. Good move. :) 

Jhootha Hi Sahi - A light-hearted, enjoyable rom-com.

Movie - Jhootha Hi Sahi (Hindi)

Director - Abbas Tyrewala

Producers - Madhu Mantena, Abbas Tyrewala

Cast - John Abraham, Pakhi, Raghu Ram, R Madhavan, Manasi Scott, Alishka Varde, Anaitha Nair, Prashant Chawla, Omar Khan, George Young, Nandana Sen

Music - AR Rahman

Cinematography - Manoj Lobo

Story, Screenplay - Pakhi, Abbas Tyrewala

Dialogues - Abbas Tyrewala

Release Date - 22nd October 2010

This movie has been getting unanimously negative reviews from almost all the critics ranging from Taran Adarsh to Khalid Mohammed. But you know what, I really enjoyed this film. Its nowhere as brilliant as the director's first film Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na. (Maybe because he didnt have Aamir Khan keeping a watch on each and every aspect of the film.) But yea, it still is an enjoyable watch, much better than the Anjaana Anjaanis and We Are Families. It is heavily inspired by the world's favourite sitcom F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and almost 70% of the film is based on conversations between the leading man, his friends and the leading lady. And it has an absolutely beautiful soundtrack by AR Rahman who is in top form. The movie is the second installment in Abbas Tyrewala's 3 part series on love and friendship. 

The movie tells the story of Siddharth (John Abraham, brilliant), a nerdy guy who works along with a couple of his friends at an Indian book store 'Kaagaz Ke Phool' in London. His world comprises of his weird and quirky friends circle -  the Pakistani siblings Omar (Raghu Ram, killer), Aaliya (Alishka Varde, lovely); the gay co-owner of the bookstore Amit (Omar Khan), who has a crush on Uday (Prashant Chawla); Aaliya's boyfriend Nick (George Young) and his airhostess girlfriend Kruthika aka Kuttika (Manasi Scott, fiery). Sid's landline number gets mistaken for a suicide helpline as part of a mix-up and eventually he volunteers to council people who're contemplating suicide, through the hotline. One one such instance, he gets a call from Mishka [from the video store :P] (Pakhi) who wants to commit suicide because her boyfriend Kabir (R Madhavan) dumped her for another girl. Sid starts talking to her and gradually makes her life better, but stays as a voice without a face. But falls for her when he sees her in person. And in a series of lies, he helps Mishka as her friend on phone and also tries to woo her as the real Siddharth. What happens next forms the story of Jhootha Hi Sahi. 

The story written by the leading lady Pakhi is as predictable as it can get. But the movie is full of enjoyable moments - mostly interactions & conversations between John & friends and John & Pakhi, which makes it very enjoyable. It doesnt have the charm and the wit of Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na. But still manages to impress you. The entire setting and characters remind you of FRIENDS in almost every scene. But I feel, thats a very good inspiration as those scenes worked very well for me. 

One thing I dont understand is that why did this movie have to be set in London? It wouldnt have made any difference if it was set in Mumbai or any other Indian city. The characters speak mostly in Hindi (as opposed to similar Hindi movies). Other than the fact that London looks great and they might be offering subsidies for film shoots, there's no requirement for this film to be shot in London. Abbas Tyrewala made a name for himself through Jaane Tu and automatically his next film has a bigger budget and foreign locations. Thats not such a great thing, especially when there's no point in setting the film abroad. How many Indians would try committing Suicide in London? And out of them how many would speak Hindi? And out of them how many would call a suicide hotline before dying? Such basic errors are not taken care of in the movie. But yea, we can forgive him for that. 

John Abraham is excellent as the Clark Kent-ish Siddharth. This is perhaps his career best performance. He doesnt depend on his good looks and body-shody to carry off the character. And his comic timing is quite good (like we saw in Dostana earlier). He is definitely the best thing about the movie. Pakhi looks much older than her character and she doesnt have the conventional Hindi film heroine look. There is something cute about her, but one cant fully digest her as the leading lady of the film. Especially a girl whom everyone has a crush on. Her acting is pretty decent, but she lacks an effervescent screen presence which is so badly required for such a role. (Why didnt he cast Genelia again??). Raghu Ram sheds his ruthless Television image and plays Omar wonderfully. He's one strong reason why you should watch this film. Alishka Varde, the cute-as-a-button girl from Jaane Tu plays Raghu's pregnant-but-unwed sister wonderfully. R Madhavan is royally wasted in a ridiculous role and he sports a horrible beard as well. The others in the cast also perform their parts effectively. There are voice-cameos by Imran Khan, Riteish Deshmukh and Abhishek Bachchan over the phone as well. A shameless gimmick, but it actually works. 

The movie may also remind you of the SRK starrer Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi at certain points where John simultaneously handles Mishka as two different persons. But yea, JHS is a lot better than RNBDJ. The conversations and interactions between the characters are the life of the film. The film would have fallen flat with its awfully weak storyline otherwise. Not so long ago, another film on suicide came (read Anjaana Anjaani) and people actually wanted to commit suicide after seeing it. But this one, makes you feel good. (At least I did). There are Indo-Pak jokes made and there's the cliched gay angle also (but its handled well thankfully). The climax where the hero breaks the law, runs to the heroine and seals their love, is there in this one too. But is not half as good as it was in Jaane Tu. The novelty and quirkiness in handling such quirky scenes in Jaane Tu is sorely missed here. 

Music by AR Rahman is heavenly. This is his best soundtrack this year after Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya (Tamil). The movie opens with Rahman's favourite track from the movie 'Moonlight' in the wonderful voice of Vijay Yesudas. 'Hello Hello' and 'Cry Cry' are very good while 'Pam Para' is shot ordinarily. There's also a beautiful female version of 'Moonlight' in the background score of the film (rumored to be sung by Dido). The best track from the album 'Do Nishaaniyaan' shows the progress of Sid & Mishka's relationship. Sadly, the beautiful 'Call Me Dil' doesnt find a place in the movie. Another beautiful Rahman song wasted. 'Mayya Yashoda' is a superb party track which actually tells a story through its lyrics. The background score of the movie is equally wonderful and leaves a huge impact. The themes of Moonlight, Do Nishaaniyan and Call Me Dil sound wonderful as parts of the background score. Manoj Lobo captures some beautiful visuals of London (but havent we seen it all before?). But he leaves an impression with his work during the indoor sequences. (which means, almost 80% of the film.)

All in all, Jhootha Hi Sahi is not great cinema. But its a light-hearted, enjoyable romantic comedy which you can spend time watching along with your friends and/or girlfriend. Much better than many Hindi movies made in similar genres in recent times. It is not anywhere close to the director's brilliant debut, but is very good nonetheless. It has John Abraham in an earnest avatar giving his career-best performance, the deadly Raghu Ram as John's best friend and an effective supporting cast. It also has one of AR Rahman's best soundtracks in recent years. And I can say without doubt that I had a great time watching this movie. 

Rating - 3/5