You could say she has put a stop to the internet’s go-to topic of the day: the Cocktail 2 comparison. With some noise after the film came out, the actor has made it plain that while you can make those parallels, it’s not the way to view her character.
Why the comparison won’t let go
The first-look posters had everyone in a throwback mood, with Ally’s style harkening back to Veronica. Then there’s the franchise to consider. The 2012 movie with Deepika, Saif and Diana Penty has a following, so any whiff of a connection was going to be talked about.
She was well aware of the terrain. In a chat with Filmfare, Kriti said when you are in a follow-up to a Deepika film, people are only going to put the two side by side. She’ll even admit there is an overlap in their energy: a bit of a free-spirited, unhinged quality.
But here is where she draws the line
Her view on it is unshakable. The chatter doesn’t faze her, but she thinks it overlooks the fact that Ally is her own person. ‘Ally and Veronica are so different and I’m glad that they’re different,’ is how she sees it.
She put it to the fans in a way that has been making the rounds: ‘Why would I play the same character that Deepika has already done? That doesn’t make sense.’ To her, that is the whole point of what’s new in Cocktail 2.
What you get from Ally that you didn’t from Veronica
For Sanon, Ally is more of a headspace than a costume. ‘It is an attitude. You cannot prepare to be cool,’ she says, remembering a moment with Homi Adajania when she confessed she didn’t come across as a ‘cool girl’ at the start.
‘She is extremely unhinged. Magnetic. Not someone who is trying to be seen.’ The message is there: you might see a similar kind of swagger, but under the hood it’s all different.
New stakes for the story
This time around, the trouble is of a different sort. Kunal and Diya have been together 16 years and are over the ‘when are you tying the knot?’ questions. They head to Italy and run into Diya’s old college chum, Ally, and you have a third party to upset the applecart.
Reviews have been what they are, but the numbers at the box office are good. Add in the name recognition and you have a recipe for a hotly debated topic.
A lot of respect for Veronica, no copy-pasting
If you put a gun to her and ask which original she’d like to have been, it’s an easy one: Veronica. She has nothing but praise for the ‘depth and damage’ of the part, and how edgy it was for its day.
But liking it isn’t the same as rehashing it. She is quick to note that the sequel is its own thing with its own problems, and Ally has a personality of her own, energies or not.
On the release and the team
Homi Adajania’s version of Cocktail 2 hit screens on 19 June 2026. It’s a spiritual successor, not a retread of the 2012 film. This time you have Shahid Kapoor, Rashmika Mandanna and of course, Kriti in the lead.
With Luv Ranjan and Tarun Jain on the script, they are looking at modern-day tests for a couple, not the same old triangle. That is the kind of fresh conflict the film is built on.
Here is what is being said in the comments section:
– Ally is not a Veronica 2.0, per Kriti
– Some measure of the two was to be expected
– Her cool is not for show
– A new tale with new kind of drama
What it means for you as a viewer
Veronica is a given for the die-hards. When you have an actor like Kriti vouch for the role while also making a case for her own, it puts things in perspective. You should be looking at what the character does, not just how she is put together.
And for those coming in for the first time, the appeal is straightforward: a long-term couple with an outsider to ruffle their feathers. The real question is if Kunal and Diya can make it through the mess she stirs up.
Looking forward
While the film is still in the theatres, the debate will go on. But you have it from her: have your respect for the past, but take Ally for what she is.
That is the right way to approach it. Don’t let the nostalgia get in the way of the choices that make Ally something more than a re-dressed version of a familiar type.
