When Cocktail released in 2012, nobody walked out of theatres arguing over who had the bigger role. Sure, Saif Ali Khan was technically the male lead, but the conversation belonged to Veronica. Deepika Padukone’s performance wasn’t trying to convince audiences she was desirable, misunderstood or wife material. Veronica was reckless, selfish, vulnerable and magnetic all at once. She didn’t need redemption because the film never asked us to apologise for liking her.
Fourteen years later, Cocktail 2 appears to be doing something very different.
It is not just introducing new characters. It almost feels like it is introducing a new version of Kriti Sanon.
Watch the trailer once and it looks like another glossy Bollywood love triangle. Watch it twice and something starts standing out. Nearly every emotional beat circles back to Kriti. Nearly every promotional still places her at the centre. Even the most talked-about dialogue from the trailer belongs to her. Shahid Kapoor and Rashmika Mandanna are certainly present, but the emotional weight of the campaign keeps returning to one person.
And that’s interesting because Bollywood has always loved using films to reshape public perception.
Actors don’t just sign scripts. Sometimes they sign narratives.
For years, Kriti Sanon has occupied a strange space in Bollywood. She’s commercially successful, critically respected and largely controversy free. Yet somehow she has always felt slightly outside the industry’s biggest conversations. She isn’t viewed with the effortless star aura associated with Deepika Padukone or Katrina Kaif. She isn’t constantly dominating headlines like Alia Bhatt. Despite National Awards and successful films, audiences still seem unsure where exactly to place her.
Cocktail 2 could quietly be trying to answer that question.
The trailer doesn’t simply introduce her character. It presents her as desirable, sexually confident, emotionally layered, stylish, glamorous and central to every major conflict. It isn’t difficult to see why many viewers walked away talking more about Kriti than the film itself.
The marketing almost feels less interested in selling Cocktail 2 than selling a new version of Kriti Sanon.
That isn’t necessarily criticism.
Hollywood has done this for decades. Margot Robbie’s transition from bombshell to producer wasn’t accidental. Anne Hathaway consciously shifted public perception after years of being labelled “too perfect.” Robert Pattinson escaped Twilight through independent cinema before becoming Batman.
Image reinvention has always been part of celebrity.
Bollywood simply prefers pretending it isn’t.
The difference is that successful reinventions usually happen because the role naturally demands it. Here, the marketing itself feels determined to convince us before we’ve even watched the film.
Every conversation surrounding Cocktail 2 somehow finds its way back to Kriti.
Her styling.
Her confidence.
Her chemistry.
Her dialogues.
Her sensuality.
Her emotional range.
Even the film’s controversies seem to orbit around her.
That raises an uncomfortable question.
Is Cocktail 2 still selling a story, or is it selling a celebrity?
Ironically, the original Cocktail became iconic precisely because it didn’t seem interested in protecting anyone’s image. Veronica drank too much, made terrible decisions, slept with the wrong man, hurt people she loved and still remained unforgettable. Deepika Padukone wasn’t being sanitised into the perfect heroine. She was allowed to be gloriously messy.
Today’s Bollywood often seems terrified of messy women.
Instead, female leads increasingly arrive pre-packaged with redemption arcs, carefully balanced vulnerability and moments specifically designed to become social media edits.
Even pain feels aesthetically curated.
This becomes even more noticeable when audiences begin discussing the actor instead of the character.
Over the past few weeks, social media hasn’t been asking whether Kriti’s character makes sense within the story.
People are discussing whether this is her hottest role.
Whether this is her boldest performance.
Whether this will finally establish her as Bollywood’s biggest female star.
Notice how quickly the conversation leaves the film.
Perhaps that is exactly the intention.
There is nothing inherently wrong with actors evolving. Every performer deserves roles that challenge public perception. Kriti Sanon has spent years proving she can balance commercial cinema with performance driven films. It makes complete sense that she would now explore a more glamorous, emotionally complex role.
The concern begins when the marketing starts feeling larger than the narrative itself.
Because audiences today are incredibly media literate.
They recognise image building.
They recognise carefully timed interviews.
They recognise viral trailer moments.
They recognise when a film starts functioning as reputation management.
That doesn’t automatically make it dishonest.
It simply changes how audiences engage with it.
There is also an irony at the heart of this campaign.
The original Cocktail became a cult classic because nobody expected Veronica to dominate the film. She stole it organically.
If Cocktail 2 is already telling audiences who the star is before the film even releases, it risks removing the very spontaneity that made the original memorable.
Perhaps Kriti Sanon truly delivers the performance of her career.
Perhaps the film genuinely belongs to her.
But audiences usually prefer deciding that themselves.
The best star-making performances are rarely announced in advance.
They’re discovered after the lights come back on.
And maybe that’s the biggest question hanging over Cocktail 2.
Is it trying to tell us a love story?
Or is it quietly asking us to fall in love with Bollywood’s newest version of Kriti Sanon?