Yet one conversation with Kavita — in which the camera flits from Veronica’s face to Kavita’s, indicating a meeting of minds — and Veronica swaps her bikini for a salwar kameez. Not just that, she turns to Gautam, with whom she had a no-strings-attached policy, and suggests marriage. “We like each other. We do, right?” she says, as an explanation for her proposal. Then she adds, “Agar main Meera jaisi ban jau toh you think maa mujhe accept karengi? (Do you think your mother will accept me if I become more like Meera?)” Gautam’s response is to remind Veronica that theirs is a casual relationship. For something of a non-casual variety, he subscribes to his mother’s vision of an ideal wife. While Cocktail lays bare Gautam’s hypocrisy, it doesn’t punish him for it. That sort of treatment is reserved for Veronica alone.
Meera is a goody two shoes, the ideal bahu and wife whose sanctimony defines her self-worth. Initially, she’s scandalised by Gautam’s ‘wild’ ways, but eventually, she falls for him. Gautam, on the other hand, is drawn to Meera because of her goodness. It inspires him to be a better person (whatever that means). That Kavita would prefer Meera to Veronica feels predictable, but in terms of a narrative device, the older woman’s disapproval has unexpected repercussions. Kavita’s sexist judgement of Veronica and her lifestyle, the suggestion that she get married, and her general preference for Meera goes from amusing to troubling because of how seriously and earnestly Veronica takes note of Kavita’s opinions. It’s a reaction that works at an emotional level because it shows how Veronica, for all her flamboyance, is also vulnerable and prone to feeling desperately lonely. At the same time, it’s such a sharp contrast to the independent-spirited behaviour we’ve seen from Veronica so far that it feels jarring.
Things ravel and unravel at a steady trot after Kavita and Veronica’s conversation. Unbeknownst to Veronica, Meera and Gautam develop a serious case of feelings and when Veronica discovers this, she reacts angrily. This is not because she feels possessive about Gautam, but because of a sense of betrayal that Meera would pursue someone whom her friend likes. Veronica’s quest for acceptance shows itself when she tells Meera (before kicking her out of the flat) how she has been betrayed countless times, but Meera’s stings the most.
