Rashmika made a rumour into a joke and let Kriti put the exclamation point on it. With the 19th of June release date for Cocktail 2 in sight, the pair have been in no rush to get serious about the chatter, preferring to let a few well-timed quips do the talking.
The one-liner that put an end to it
You could feel the room when a fan at a promotional stop put the question to them about the so-called lesbian plot. Rashmika was having none of it; she was in stitches and the audience was right there with her.
Kriti was on it: ‘There is no such thing in this film.’ Then Rashmika, with a smile, chimes in, ‘I know, we do have a certain chemistry.’ But it was Kriti who had the last word: ‘We are three straight people here. This is an emotional threesome, not a physical one.’
If you’ve seen the clip that’s been making the rounds, you can see why people are on board. It’s hard to be defensive when they handle it like that. In a way, they put a stop to the back-and-forth with a grin where a statement might not have.
Where all this noise comes from
Homi Adajania, the director, has a theory on how the rumour got legs. Back at the trailer launch he put it down to the two of them being good friends on set. He and the crew would have a laugh over the idea of them carrying the romance while Shahid Kapoor was left out in the cold.
Homi won’t rule out a project like that in the future, but it’s not the plan for Cocktail 2. Dinesh Vijan, the producer, put it simply: the trailer is about old and new love, with a wry tip of the hat to Luv Ranjan, and that’s the extent of it.
What you can expect from the film
It’s a rom-com from Homi with Shahid, Kriti and Rashmika in the mix. Think of it as a spiritual follow-up to the 2012 blockbuster, not a rehash.
Kriti is quick to point out the characters and the tale are of a different make. The first one had Saif, Deepika and Diana; this is something else entirely, even if it is in the same family.
In a nutshell
Here is what the makers are putting on the table:
– No lesbian story in the works for Cocktail 2
– The three of us are straight, as far as the film is concerned
– ‘Emotional threesome’ means just that – in the feelings, not in any other way
– Two kinds of romance in the trailer, the old and the new
And why it’s on everyone’s lips
It’s easy to see why the moment resonated:
– A thorny subject met with some good humour
– A clip that was bound to go viral
– Some banter that piques your interest without muddying the waters
Then there is the matter of focus. You clear the air and you’re left with what people come to the theatre for: the kind of drama and comedy that doesn’t need to be explained.
As we get to opening day
19th June is when we find out. The heavy lifting of the promo is done and the talk of a same-sex storyline is behind us. Now it’s back to the trio and the sort of modern tangle their names on the marquee suggest.
The lightheartedness of the promotion is part of the package. The film is flirty and a bit of a mess in the best way, and the cast has made sure you don’t get the wrong impression.
Will the ‘spiritual sequel’ moniker hold up? We’ll see over the weekend. There will be the usual side-by-sides with the 2012 version, but the team says to leave those at the door – this is its own thing.
For now, the highlight of the campaign isn’t in the trailer. It’s in Kriti’s remark. An 'emotional threesome‘ is a fine way of telling you to come for the sparks and not the headlines.
