A self explanatory title for another blog filled with obvious and mundane jottings on cinema seen recently, that you have no reason to read and I haven’t found any reason to write also. You might have guessed that confidence is not something I’m known for.
Wake Up Sid is part of a mental deal I made up with myself, to watch a Hindi film for every five ‘other’ films and it was also something I had wished to see some time back and made a half-hearted attempt on TV. I finally got to watch the film in its entirety three days back.
Debutante Ayan Mukherjee presents a fresh, if it’s the right word to use; a fresh view of a tried and tested concept, the concept of a slacker realizing life and responsibility. Ranbir Kapoor plays the eponymous Sid who eulogizes Mumbai and has his nose between comics and has a penchant for drawing Homer Simpson, which is an interesting character by itself, though constantly reminded either directly or indirectly by those around, Sid only realizes that life as he knows it is slipping away when exam results arrive.
Throw in arty Konkana Sen Sharma who reads Tagore and aspires to become a writer, the frank and friendly Sid meets Aisha (Konkana) and helps her around the city and with her apartment, later after a family tussle he also moves in. The later part of the movie predictably on how Sid ‘gains’ responsibility and as the title suggests literally wakes up.
However that being said, Wake up Sid is a different and fresh (yes I’m aware I used the word twice already) take on already experienced surroundings. You know that Aisha will reject Sid because he doesn’t have any aim in life; you know that he will have to find some hidden talent to which we the audience have been provided enough clues through the course of the film, but it’s still engaging, although we know what will happen in the end, I rooted for that prediction to happen and I think there lies the success of the film and the intelligence of the director. Worth mentioning is the sine wave like transformation that interplays between the lead characters and able supporting cast which included Anupam Kher and Supriya Pathak.
Like most Bollywood films, the music of Shankar Eshaan Loy is adequate; like the movie itself the music has the ‘hey, haven’t we heard this before’ but the song that definitely stands out is Iktara specially composed by Amit Trivedi stays in your head many many hours after the finish. The dialogues by Niranjan Iyengar were realistic and urban and sometimes very thoughtful like ‘the city keeps changing but the sea never changes’ and ‘tonight it’s just you me aur tea’.
Produced by Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions is perhaps the best film that has come out of their stable in terms of cinematic value and also should be praised is the effort taken by Ayan Mukerjee by making a film not to impress anyone but to just make a film and a wonderful performance by Ranbir Kapoor.
I also wish to thank the English subtitles which helped me understand the film to a maximum extent.
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