Wake Up Sid (Hindi)

This is the story of Sidharth Mehra (Ranbir Kapoor), a lazy, unmotivated slacker from Mumbai whose life undergoes a series of changes after taking his final year college exams. Sid’s world is breezy, carefree, and without any true responsibilities. The most important elements in his life are his friends, his camera, his car, and his X-box 360.

Sid thrives around his two best friends, Rishi (Namit Das) and Laxmi (Shikha Talsania), very rarely communicates with his mother Sarita (Supriya Pathak) and takes his father Ram Mehra (Anupam Kher), and all his hard earned wealth for granted. Despite all these traits, Sid is an honest boy; sweet, funny, and above all, a good friend. Aisha Bannerjee (Konkona Sen Sharma), an aspiring writer from Calcutta, learns this soon enough when her path crosses with Sid’s on her first day in Mumbai. Ambitious, well-read, and driven, Aisha has come to Bombay to realize her dreams as a writer. Despite their contrasting personalities, Sid becomes Aisha’s first friend in the city.

As Aisha sets up her life in Bombay, with the help of Sid and his gang, Sid allows for time to fly by over long drives, parties that stretch well into dawn, and endless hours doing absolutely nothing. But summers vary rarely dull these days and Sid’s summer is no different. A series of circumstances and events compel him to take stock of his life and take a hard look at himself. Will he, at some point figure out what he’s supposed to be doing with his life? Wake up Sid!

This is the story of Sidharth Mehra (Ranbir Kapoor), a lazy, unmotivated slacker from Mumbai whose life undergoes a... Show More

sanghamitra

Editor   Feb 18, 2010 14:11  1 out of 1 people found this review helpful

Ranbir Kapoor is coming of age and his performances speak out for him. And this is one of those performances where no one can complain that he gets better roles just because he is a star kid. He is endearing, believable and delivers a very honest performance as a college kid who is cocooned and protected from the hardships of life and who's existence revolves around his gang of friends and fun, carefree days. The story revolves around how he grows up from a kid to a man and wakes up to the realities of life.

Konkona Sen delivers a brilliant performance in a complex role. She is an independent woman, living life on her terms and yet we see flashes of a girl in her (her face lights up at the bread-jam cake on her birthday, her indulgent smiles on seeing Ranbir and the neighbour's kid watching Mr. India). She handles the complex relationship of 'mother'ing Sid in his growing-up days when he moves in with her, their initial platonic relationship and explaining it to Sid's mother (Supriya Pathak), her feelings for her boss (Rahul Khanna) and finding herself in her writing, with mature acting.

But what sets Wake Up Sid apart is the smooth transition between scenes and the flow of the script. The Director (Ayan Mukerji) keeps the script tight yet subtle, not being in-the-face and yet getting the message across. Refreshing and definitely worth a watch.

Wake Up Sid is very much like its main character. Entertaining if not profound — not very bright — and you don’t mind spending a couple of hours in his company, but afterwards you’re left with the unshakable feeling that your time would have been better spent elsewhere.

Wake Up Sid was probably one of the most underrated movies of 2009. However, this rom-com came as a surprise package to many. The fresh new plot and characters made this flick a pleasure to watch.

Ayan Mukerji, the rookie director, has handled the subject of a spoiled college brat quite intelligently in his debut film. Unlike Bollywood movie protagonists, Sid is a real life character. He is a spoiled Mumbaikar, unaware of his responsibilities, and even fails in his college finals. The story revolves round how he met a Bengali girl, who is markedly different from him, and how she changes Sid’s attitude towards life. And yes, eventually they do fall in love and you will love the way the two unite.

It’s a "Ranvir all the way" movie really, and Ranvir Kapoor does enthrall his audience. His fans have a new reason to cheer now after this movie. Ranvir as the protagonist Sid delves into the skin of the character and makes his celluloid avatar remarkably reliable.

Konkona Sen Sharma pulls up another brilliant performance. Her silent stares, her dialog delivery, her cheerful presence on the screen is bound to impress all. Konkona plays the girl of today, big dreams in her eyes, struggling alone to make a mark in Mumbai, the city of dreams.

Anupam Kher and Supriya Pathak provide a powerful support cast as Sid’s parents. Kashmira Shah was a real surprise. Not just the oomph factor, she has displayed proper sensitivity to her character. Rahul Khanna thogh, fails to impress. The group of actors playing Sid’s friends, specially the girl who’s closest to him, are also noteworthy.

Music deserves a special mention. Nice, lilting melodies complement the visuals. Listen to the peppy title track and of course, Iktara. Iktara is one of the most soulful numbers in recent times. The art direction of the office of the magazine where Konkona and Ranavir works, Mumbai Mantra, is quite a wow. You will love to work in such a office.

All in all, Wake Up Sid, is a very well made movie. It’s also a wake up call and an eye opener to the youngsters of today. This movie will make them understand why one should not neglect their families, and forget their responsibilities. Gen X is not really a fizzy drink gulping, cool dude generation. It has got talent, and is cerebral and intelligent. We just need to channelise our talent and energies in the right direction.

Watch this movie definitely! It’s a food for your thoughts!