Rashmika Mandanna on stepping into the messy world of Cocktail 2: ‘Diya is not very vanilla’

Dubai: Some films entertain you for three hours. Others leave you arguing for 13 years. Cocktail is very much the latter.

More than a decade after its release, Cocktail remains one of Bollywood's most hotly debated relationship dramas. Not just because of its chartbuster soundtrack, glamorous London backdrop or impossibly stylish cast, but because audiences still can't agree on one thing: Why did the dependable Meera (Diana Penty) end up with Gautam (an adorable man-child Saif Ali Khan) while Veronica — the fiercely loyal, gloriously chaotic free spirit played by Deepika Padukone — was left heartbroken?

It's a debate that resurfaces every few years, with many viewers insisting Veronica deserved better and questioning whether the film rewarded the "good girl" while punishing the wild one.

So when Rashmika Mandanna heard the words Cocktail 2, her reaction wasn't all that different from ours.

“They had come to us saying this is Cocktail 2, and I was like, okay, but how can it be a sequel of Cocktail 1? It's just too iconic to have a sequel,” she says.

Thankfully, the makers weren't trying to recreate Veronica, Meera or Gautam.

“They were like, it's a spiritual sequel. It's not a film journey or story sequel.”

That explanation was enough to get her curious.

“When I heard the story, it's like an entirely different world and entirely different characters. No character is called the same, no character is the same.”

The fresh cast helped too.

“What drew me to it is because Hom [Adjania] i was directing it, Dinoo [Dinesh Vijan] was producing it, and of course we had Shahid [Kapoor] and Kriti [Sanon], who I've always been wanting to work with.”

And while audiences may be expecting another breezy love triangle populated by beautiful people making complicated choices, Rashmika hints that her character Diya may be far more layered than she initially appears.

If Bollywood has a resident green flag, Rashmika would surely be a strong contender. She has built a reputation as the approachable, cheerful actress who seems almost incapable of malice.

Her mother, she jokes, occasionally worries that she's too trusting for the real world.

“Personally, my mom is a little worried about me as to how will I survive in this world being the way I am.”

Diya, however, appears to have received a different instruction manual.

“Diya, on the other hand, is not very vanilla.”

It's a line she delivers with a smile, but it reveals plenty.

“She's got a little tricks and whatever traits of her own.”

In fact, there were moments during filming when Rashmika found herself completely baffled by Diya's behaviour.

“So many things that I would just question Homi, saying, ‘But why would someone do something like this? Why is there anyone who has ever done something like this?’”

Without giving away spoilers, she suggests that viewers will eventually understand why she struggled to make sense of some of Diya's choices.

The role demanded something unusual from her: complete surrender.

“For me to have sort of completely surrendered to Homi, saying, ‘Okay boss, you're the boss here, you're the captain of the ship. Just take care of me. I'm just going to dive in.’”

Perhaps that's also why she isn't particularly concerned about audiences judging her character.

Quite the opposite.

“I think people should be allowed to judge the character. Otherwise, what is the conversation around the film?”

It's a fascinating response, especially considering the discourse that surrounded the original Cocktail. For years, viewers have passionately dissected Veronica's choices, Meera's decisions and Gautam's emotional maturity.

The debates never really stopped.

Rashmika believes flawed characters are exactly what make stories memorable.

“If you're doing all positive and good stuff, then there's no masala in it. There's no spice in it.”

And today's audiences, she believes, are far more willing to embrace those shades of grey.

“We have flawed characters being appreciated today, or the grey shades being appreciated today, because it's complex.”

That's perhaps what makes Cocktail such an enduring conversation starter in the first place. Nobody was entirely right. Nobody was entirely wrong. The characters felt frustratingly human.

Rashmika seems convinced Cocktail 2 will continue that tradition.

“You know this person is not such, but this person is playing such character, which makes it all the way more interesting and fun.”

While relationship dramas and emotional entanglements remain at the heart of the film, Rashmika also believes Cocktail 2 arrives at exactly the right moment.

The world, she says, feels heavy.

“There's so much happening around the world and honestly there's a lot of frustration out there.”

The actress herself has been immersed in intense projects in recent years, balancing action spectacles, emotionally demanding dramas and larger-than-life commercial entertainers.

“I'm also doing films where I'm beating up people and I'm getting beaten up and stuff like that myself,” she says.

That's partly why returning to a lighter, feel-good space felt refreshing.

“For me personally, a summertime film was important as well because of just what intense films that I'm doing.”

The irony is that Rashmika experiences her own films almost like the rest of us. She rarely watches playback on set.

“When a shot is taken, I don't have the habit of watching my take. I give it to the director.”

Instead, she waits to see what emerges.

“I'm also the first audience for my own film.”

As promotional material for Cocktail 2 started rolling out, she found herself looking at the film from a viewer's perspective.

“I was like, it's such a nice easy summertime film. I think this is what I would want to watch right now.”

And perhaps that's the simplest way to describe what Cocktail 2 is trying to achieve.

Not every film needs to solve the world's problems. Not every story needs to leave audiences emotionally exhausted.

Sometimes, all you want is a fun summer watch featuring attractive people, complicated emotions, gorgeous music and enough romantic chaos to keep everyone talking long after the credits roll.

“I think it's important that we release a film like this because you come into the theatre, and you're just not stimulated more. You just come there and just watch a film and relax.”

As someone who still isn't entirely over the Veronica-Meera debate, I ended our conversation with a simple request: please give us more closure than the first Cocktail.

No endless team wars. No decade-long arguments. No emotional damage.

Just a satisfying ending. Rashmika laughed.

“We hope it does.”