Wake Up Sid

The lazy, spoilt, Son-of-a-Rich-Dad is back again on the screens. This time he takes the form of Siddarth Mehra.

Firstly though, Ayan Mukherji (story, screenplay and direction) deserves immense praise for his directorial debut venture. As far as the story goes, there is nothing new or novel. The script has no unexpected twists or such. It goes along at its own sweet pace and you can foretell every next incident. This is a movie more on the lines of 'Dil Chahta Hai' meets 'Lakshya'. But where Ayan scores heavily is in the direction and screenplay departments. The direction is fresh and uncomplicated. He stuck to the very basic rule and kept it simple, and this has definitely paid huge dividends. The screenplay is crisp and well executed. It shows in the way Ayan has resisted the desire to jump into song-and-dance sequences, as are most bollywood movies prone to, and thats a refreshing change.

The movie revolves around our protagonist Siddarth Mehra (Sid, as his friends call him), who is arrogant, self-centred, has an absolute disrespectful attitude to financial dealings (read shopping) and anything to do with exercising his mental capabilities. Be it learning at college or going through the daily 9-to-5 grind. Though most of us may not readily identify ourself with Sid, we all have surely known a personality like him at some point of our life. Sid strikes up friendship with Aisha Bannerjee, played superbly by Konkona Sen Sharma, during a boring farewell party. The friendship grows stronger, initially through e-mails and then through setting up Aisha's flat. The two characters are poles apart, Aisha strives to be independent, is organised and has a set of goals, whereas Sid on the other hand is carefree and childishly immature with not a care in the world. As the story evolves Sid has a spat with his parents and leaves home. He takes refuge in Aisha's flat and is slowly forced to delve deeper into his way of living. He has virtually taken everything for granted in his life so far, including his friends and his parents. He now has to take life by the horns. It can be safely said that he admires Aisha's opinion of him and transforms himself to please her in ways he never knew before, and in the process he matures in his thinking and takes responsibilities seriously. How he nurtures his hobby and utilises it to make a living, thus turning a new leaf in his life forms the rest of the story. Not to mention, he even realises he is in love too, as one is wont to expect.

The actors have all lived up to the expectations. Ranbir Kapoor as Sid is a revelation. This is the first movie i watched of his and i think he has a very bright future, though i would hate to see him go wandering into stereotype bollywood. The way he gets all childish when he has learnt to fry eggs is as admirable as it is funny. He is pleased as a punch and puts a smile on your face. Konkona Sen Sharma as Aisha does here what she knows doing best. She has acted in various roles doing justice to them all and the role of Aisha is no different. You just cant help but admire the various emotions that she can pull-off. A pleasing change from all the eye-candy mainstream actresses who have flooded bollywood of late. Supriya Pathak and Anupam Kher as Sid's parents do an applaudable job. The scene where Supriya Pathak tries to learn English so that she can bond with Sid more as a friend than a mother deserves a special mention. She sure strikes a few emotional chords with the mature audience. Kashmira Shah has very few lines in the movie and she is pleasing on the eye. Hope she had a meatier role. Rahul Khanna as the editor does his job well.

The direction is top-notch, so is the screenplay and acting. Some viewers may find it a bit too long but i think the editing is sharp and the camera work goes a long way to make this movie an interesting watch. Music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy is pleasing on the ear without being too imposing. All-in-all its a good movie for a weekend at the cinemas as long as you don't look too deep into the 'same-old-story' aspect.

Ayan Mukherjee's 'Wake Up Sid' is one of the most eye-pleasing and refreshing films of the year. It is light, entertaining and interesting, and unlike most of Karan Johar's previous productions, it is much more realistic and does not fall into the category of a 'run-of-the-mill fairytale'. The writing and the dialogue are very simple, and despite some sentimental moments, there are neither clichés nor vain attempts to dramatise the story. The film shows the beauty of Mumbai, its youth and its modern culture. Ayan Mukherjee's direction is excellent and his portrayal of India's urban lifestyle is impressive and inspiring alike. He gives the viewer a view of a new India which consists of young, effervescent and ambitious people who want to progress, to graduate, and to have an altogether better life. I think that this depiction was much more important than the film's actual story. Aspects that make this depiction so authentic include the breathtaking locations, the superb soundtrack, and the fantastic star-cast. The film flows brilliantly with all the songs which enhance its story and lighthearted feel, and the acting is roundly natural.

Ranbir Kapoor performs exceedingly well throughout as the main protagonist Sid - a young, indecisive guy whose conflicts with his family and friends and failure at college make him leave his home and try to make a life on his own. But honestly, the one who blew me away is Konkona Sen Sharma. One of the most talented actresses in India today, she is totally convincing as the young, independent career-woman and makes her character very easy to relate to thanks to her natural acting and no-nonsense attitude. Oh, and she is simply gorgeous here. I must note that I did not expect Ranbir and Konkona to form a very credible romantic couple, but they proved me wrong. The two get brilliant support from other members of the cast. Supriya Pathak is wonderful as Sid's loving and caring mother, exuding a certain warmth that really makes one realise the importance of a mother. Anupam Kher is brilliantly restrained. Kainaz Motivala, in a much smaller part, is so beautiful you can't take your eyes off her, and so is the ever so hot Kashmira Shah. Rahul Khanna, Shikha Talsania, Shruti Bapna and Namit Das are all very effective.

One of Wake Up Sid's biggest achievements is the gradual growth of the story, without which no coming of age film could work. With every passing scene, the film grows more captivating, making the viewer care about what happens next and wonder how it all wraps up. It's not that it's totally unpredictable, but its steady pace, identifiable characters, and the genuine portrayal of relationships, make everything much more intriguing than it could have been. The everyday atmosphere created in Aisha's old residence is heartwarming; the neighbours live like one huge family, but not in a cheesy way. The development of Sid's relationship with Aisha is equally natural. I would like to mention one song which is one of my favourite in recent times, and it is "Iktara". It's a soulful track beautifully sung by Kavita Seth and extremely well pictured on-screen, efficiently presenting the film's brightest moment of romantic realisation. All said and done, I recommend you to watch Wake Up Sid, it truly is a wonderful film which is worth revisiting. It is beautifully shot, well written and directed; it is inspiring, exciting and thoroughly enjoyable.

What i loved most in the movie - Wake up Sid, not every one is perfect, there cannot be pure good, pure bad people, it has its own shade of grey, that is what Sid the character is all about. Then, once you realise this, you go out and try and find what you love doing, and do that. Everything else will fall in place.

Sid, everyone from family to friends want Siddharth Mehra to do something constructive in life and earn some self - respect and of course money. He has no plans and take life as it comes. Aisha (played by Konkona Sen Sharma), who on the other hand has planned very meticulously, what she wants. I believe that because of Konkona's performance Ranbir's performance was complimentary, rather than other way around. Was it just that Aisha was a much stronger character in the movie.

The credit should go to the director to a very large extent, to make one realise, what he is worth does need to go Kargil like Lakshya or Goa like Dil Chahta Hai. You would surprised that once you realise what you want, it was just next door. Loved the way, the house where Konkona stays and they way everything in the studio apartment has been placed - the books (choice of books), the artefacts, the show pieces. The house had no bed, but a bedding that was on the floor. It reminded me of my house in Pune. That's another story.

And I just love the music, every well written and woven into the movie, specially "Iktara" that for sure Favourite song, too!! Towards, the end of the movie, you keep thinking did you like the movie, didn't you like the movie. But then the movie is inspiring in work, in love, in relationship.

I have seen this movie a number of times, and this is when I am not a movie buff. What keeps me bringing back to this movie however, is the fact that Wake up Sid is definitely more than a movie.

It is a story enjoyable in totality or just in parts, no matter how much one sees of it, there is always something to take away. My takeaways from this movie have been numerous - from something as frivolous as ideas for redoing a house to something as drastic as finding a direction in life. And every time I feel I lack focus, I end up watching this movie.

Wake up Sid does have its flaws, probably the key one being its pace, it gets slow at times (though never painfully slow). Then again, if you are looking for some great climax, there is none to come, because the movie is not really a typical Bolly/Hollywood stuff - it is not a comedy (as incorrectly mentioned at many places), nor a pure love story (though that forms a very beautiful element of the whole package). The true genre of the movie is what you are gonna take away from the movie, so just watch it to realize how different this movie can be every time you watch, it has the potential to come across just as differently as daily weather.

I do not accompany my wife on her visits to the cinema to watch most new Hindi movies. There is a rash of silly comedies (supposed to be) with one or more from Akshay Kumar, the Deshmukh kid, Fardeen Khan, Sunil Shetty, Govinda in his terrible new avatar and others of their ilk. Or there are the Shahrukh Khan types with his ever increasing hamming that people continue to love in this country after half a century (in my life time) of watching. I wait and wait for a great review or for one of the few friends whose judgment I trust to tell me here is a you must see before I go to watch a Bollywood film. So when my good friend Sandhya Divecha told my wife to ask me to see this one I went.

And it was good.

Yes it could have been better (almost every movie can be and most Hindi movies can be MUCH better) but it was enjoyable. It was my first time watching Ranbir Kapoor and he is pretty good. This kid needs time (and better luck than his father) and he could be a real star. Everyone know how good an actress Konkana is but he more than holds his own and thats a big compliment.

The first half is a bit patchy but gets better as the movie gets going and the second one is a breeze. Anupam Kher does an ordinary job as he does more and more frequently of late and the highly talented Supriya Pathak is given yet another role which makes her mouth silly broken English. Friends tell me that it suits the role but that doesn't convince me. But both Kher and Pathak have minor roles. Its is Ranbir and Konkana all the way and you go with them and their emotions all the way.

Go watch it, as someone said in another review, with someone you love or intend to.