When Cocktail released back in 2012, all everyone could talk about was whether one would choose Veronica or Meera. And all these years later, that’s barely a conversation anyone is having, because what actually stayed with everyone, was Veronica. The best part about the movie wasn’t that it gave us a glamorous ‘cool girl’, but it was a revolution in the sense that it allowed women to be messy and selfish and so much more, while also getting the audience’s empathy.
Long before Bollywood taught us how to embrace female protagonists that aren’t perfect, Deepika Padukone’s Veronica changed the rulebook, and that’s one reason why the character is still alive, and looking back, feels ahead of its time.
Veronica was never supposed to be perfect and that worked
Maddock Films
For years, we’ve only had women fit either the ‘good girl’ trope, or other times, be an ultra glamorous woman, who eventually learns a lesson, or something like that. However, chose to be neither, and in between all the partying and drinking and trusting wrong people while making impulsive choices, she became someone people understood, instead of judge her. And honestly, due credits to Deepika for being able to work around just emotional contradictions.
Veronica eventually became a cultural icon
Vernoica’s fashion was always on point, and even today, it is as relevant as it was all those years ago, because while we talk about clean girl aesthetics, she actually created one back in those days. However, her impact was never about fashion, it was more to do with how her clothes were a reflection of everything she stood for — confidence, being spontaneour, unfiltered, and carefree.
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It was all about the attiude, the wardrobe just made sense, and therefore, Veronica’s looks have been so much more than just about the fashion.
Deepika’s Veronica was the start of something different in Bollywood
Maddock Films
Even today, the debate around showing women in a certain light often catches up on social media, however, Veronica was a character that did change how female characters are now done in Bollywood. Women don’t have to be perfect or flawless or selfless to be loved on screen, and even if they are unlikeable, they don’t have to be punished for it. Deepika’s Veronica did what mainstream films are still trying to do.
If there’s one thing that everyone related to, when it came to Veronica, was the fact that a heroine doesn’t have to be the epitome of sacrifice to be able to receive empathy. As long as there’s authenticity, it works.
All of this, is why even 14 years later, Veronica is not just one of Deepika Padukone’s most celebrated performances, but also one of the finest female characters written in Bollywood. Veronica was that character that showed us that even the coolest and most glamorous person, is always human, beneath it all.