At the 58th Filmfare Awards, Cocktail received four nominations including Best Actress (Padukone) and Best Female Debut (Penty).

Meera (Diana Penty) is a shy and traditional Indian girl who leaves her family in India to live in London with her husband Kunal (Randeep Hooda).

While at the Heathrow Airport, she meets Gautam Kapoor (Saif Ali Khan), a shameless flirt and playboy who hits on her and asks her out.

Eventually, Gautam's mother Kavita (Dimple Kapadia) and his uncle Randhir (Boman Irani) arrive, looking for him.

Gautam lies to Kavita and says that he is in a relationship with Meera because she is the "ideal Indian girl" who would meet his mother's approval.

Gautam is unable to concentrate on his work or move on, and Veronica becomes depressed and engages in increasingly dangerous and destructive behavior.

Veronica thinks that they are rebuilding their relationship, but soon realizes that Gautam is no longer the flirtatious, fun-loving man she fell for and that he is his real self only with Meera.

The designing of the three characters Veronica (Deepika), Gautam (Saif), Meera (Diana), the cool and contemporary look of the film and its music are its USP" Priyanka Chopra was the original choice for the role of Veronica, but was ultimately not cast due to creative issues.

[9] Deepika Padukone and Imran Khan were initially signed on to play the leads in the film, after their chemistry in the promos of Break Ke Baad (2010) struck a chord with the youth.

Locations of the filming in London include Borough High Street, Borough Market, Portobello Road, Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus, Mayfair, Clapham Junction, Battersea Park, Bank Station, St. Paul's London, Colville Gardens (Notting Hill) and Brick Lane.

Whilst security was extra tight on the day to prevent outsiders entering the premises, a DJ was hired for the music and club lights were also used to make the scene look as real as possible.

The trailer of the film was reported to be attached to the prints of Khan's previous home production Agent Vinod (2012),[15] although the makers decided against this for unknown reasons.

The official trailer was eventually launched on 21 May 2012, to a phenomenal response from critics and audiences, crossing 1 million hits on YouTube within 3 days.

Cocktail received positive reviews from critics, who praised the direction, soundtrack, humor, cinematography, costumes and the performances of the cast, with particular praise directed towards Padukone and Penty's performances, Rubina A. Khan of Firstpost gave the film 4/5 stars, saying that "Cocktail is a contemporary film that reflects life as it happens all around us….

"[17] Meena Iyer of Times of India gave the film 3.5/5 stars, commenting that "What Cocktail should be truly applauded for is its permissiveness.

"[19] Anupama Chopra of Hindustan Times gave the film 3.5/5 stars, commenting that "This cocktail is full of fizz.

"[20] Nabanita Roy of One India gave the film 3/5 stars, concluding that "On the whole, Cocktail is colourful, fascinating and attention-grabbing.

"[22] Devesh Sharma of Filmfare gave the film 3/5 stars, concluding that "All-in-all, it's a nice urban romance.

"[23] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave the film 3/5 stars, commenting that "Cocktail has just the right mix of fizz and flavour to allow the occasional and inevitable crinkles of triteness to flow well below the surface.

"[25] Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the film 3/5 stars, saying that "On the whole, Cocktail has a fascinating first-half, charismatic performances, harmonious music and the trendy look and styling as its aces, but the second-half is not as tempting or intoxicating as the first hour.

"[28] Kaushik L.M of Behind Woods gave the film 2.5/5 stars, concluding that "The light-hearted fun and romance resurrect this cocktail.

"[29] Shubhra Gupta of Indian Express gave the film 2.5/5 stars, concluding that "Cocktail is nice while the fizz lasts.

"[31] Sonia Chopra of Sify gave the film 2/5 stars, stating that "Drink this cocktail if you must; but be warned, the concoction isn't as appetizing as it looks!

echoed this criticism in a review, stating: "[Cocktail] says it's okay when the guy does it, but when a lady does the same thing, she is immoral, and society must punish her in some way.

"[33] Martin D'Souza of GlamSham gave the film 2/5 stars, saying that "It's a cocktail alright, but one which lacks punch.

"[34] Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave the film 2/5 stars, concluding that "I'm going with 2 out of 5 for director Homi Adajania's Cocktail.

"[36] Suparna Sharma of Deccan Chronicle gave the film 2/5 stars, commenting that "Cocktail, because of its high sugar content, initially gives a heady rush, but leaves a bad hangover.

"[37] Raja Sen of Rediff gave the film 2/5 stars, commenting that "It's a pity, and not just because this could have been the great unconventional cinematic threesome we so desperately need.

Cocktail has a handful of moments and a few genuine sparks, but finally crashes and burns so spectacularly that it's hard to focus on the positives.

gave the film 1.5/5 stars, stating that "One of the chief reasons why this cocktail fails to hit your sweet spot is because you don't empathize with any of the characters.