“‘Cocktail’ success is reflective of my image over the years” – Saif in conversation with Koimoi

Cocktail has managed to tickle the taste buds and the spirits are flowing uninhibitedly. Pun intended. Saif Ali Khan has managed not just the biggest opening ever of his career; be it at as a solo lead or in a multistarrer affair, in the process he has also firmly established the fortunes of his production house Illuminati Films that he floated with much fanfare in collaboration with Dinesh Vijan.

“When Love Aaj Kal (2009) released, it was the biggest grossing romantic comedy and had netted close to 70 crores just in India. In a way it was a game changer for the multiplex visiting urban audience. Now Cocktail, which has the same team – Saif, Dinesh, Deepika Padukone, Pritam and Irshad Kamil – has repeated the feat”, says an insider.

While the lifetime collections of Love Aaj Kal would be comfortably surpassed by Cocktail now, what has impressed most is the fact that Saif has turned out to be only actor from his generation to fetch such an opening in the role of a lover boy.

“Perhaps that’s reflective of my image over the years”, chuckles Saif who is keeping his calm despite such success, “The kind of numbers that the film is fetching is of course a sort of redemption. Yes, there are actors whose films will take a bigger opening than mine and vice versa. However the way Cocktail has performed suits me just fine. Anything less than what it has done would have defied the perception that audience has for me and my films. Anything greater from this point with sustained momentum should be a good enough reason to celebrate.”

You would deserve that for sure!