Nervous Saif Ali Khan hopes for a spirited ‘Cocktail’

Saif Ali Khan must be nervous. Really nervous in fact, and he has all the right reasons to be in that state of mind. ‘Cocktail’ releases this weekend and though it would be unfair to call the film as a make or break affair for him, the fact remains that with the younger breed of actors like Ranbir Kapoor, Imran Khan and (now) even Emraan Hashmi breathing down his neck for a place up in the ladders, Saif indeed needs a solid hit to ensure that he hangs on to his coveted spot.

Let’s admit it; the Top-6 slots are already sealed. With Khans ruling the roost, Akshay Kumar making his place solid enough with two back to back centuries, Hrithik coming back to form with ‘Agneepath’ and Ajay doing films far more regularly and ensuring a yearly hit with Rohit Shetty (though one waits to see how far ‘Bol Bachchan’ goes), Saif has to hang on to his slot in the Top-10 at the least. Well, ‘Cocktail’ is the one on which he would want to place his bet and there are some strong reasons behind that.

Saif Ali Khan in Cocktail

First and foremost, it takes him back into the familiar space of the likes of ‘Love Aaj Kal’, ‘Salaam Namaste’ and ‘Hum Tum’ which have time and again worked for him. Of course his experiment with ‘Omkara’ paid off as well but other misfires like ‘Tashan’, ‘Kurbaan’ and ‘Aarakshan’, all experiments no less, didn’t really help his cause. A thriller like ‘Race’ worked really well but then ‘Agent Vinod’ turned out to be a box office disappoint of mammoth proportion. Secondly, ‘Cocktail’ has been pitched well as a quintessential multiplex film which should keep urban audience happy.

Of course, eventually all would boil down to the content but at least from the opening perspective, ‘Cocktail’ seems like a much safer outing with it’s songs doing the trick as well. Moreover with Saif playing it all casual in the promotional campaign as well when compared to ‘Agent Vinod’, which was seemingly a dream project (and hence way too laboured for all involved), the prospects seem better this time around.

The film’s success is all the more important for him because when the likes of Ranbir, Imran and to an extent Emraan are comfortably crossing the 50 crores milestone time and again, it is about time that Saif makes it large with ‘Cocktail’. Pun intended!

– Joginder Tuteja (His first article for Indicine.com)

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17 Comments

  • Hi Joginder, I have been following your articles on various websites. But this is the best platform for you to express your unbiased views. Looking forward to more articles from you here :) :)

  • Woah! Nice job Indicine to make Joginder a part of your fabulous team. I have read his music reviews on Hungama.

    As for Saif, I think he can never be a big star. He needs a good director like Imtiaz Ali or the presence of a bigger star like SRK / Aamir in Kal Ho Na Ho and Dil Chahta Hai respectively.

    Cocktail is no doubt important for him to prolong his career. I had huge hopes for a classic from Agent Vinod but it turned out to be damp squib.

    Hope Cocktail doesnt disappoint. Its look good.

  • I doubt Saif Ali Khan is even in the Top 10?

    First 3 Khans, Hrithik, Akshay, Ajay.. that’s the Top 6 like you said. Then its Ranbir, Imran, Emraan.. Now Abhishek could be in the Top 10 with Bol Bachchan doing well.

    Even otherwise its close between Saif and Shahid Kapoor.. Both have 2 flops, but Shahid had bigger solo hits before that.

  • @rahul which solo hit of Shahid are you talking about? His last clean hit was Jab We Met in 2007.. whereas Saif has Race in 2008 and Love Aaj Kal in 2009.

  • But Race wasn’t a solo film it also had Katrina Kaif, Bipasha Basu.. hit music. Jab We Met, Vivah (when Barjatya films were not doing well), Kaminey were not only box office hits but his performance was praised too.

    Saif has very few solo hits.. Only Love Aaj Kal and Hum Tum in his entire career I think

  • I was wondering why Indicine has changed the way of writing their articles. This is mre of Indiaglitz type. Obviously because of Joginder;I have read some of his articles in Indiaglitz. But I prefer the original Indicine type. Simple and understandable.

  • @shailesh..kaminey v hit thi…coktail will be average…promos se movie ki story old lagti hai..nd saif again doing flirting..!!

  • saif is definitely among the top 10 actors in b’wood today and i bet after 2 yrs he’s gonna be in top 6-7 for sure. cocktail looks a definite hit, then there’s race 2 another potential hit.

  • Surely flop! Because Saif flirting to both actress in movie.. Not good story like Love aaj kal..

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