Wake up to new age cinema where hardly you will find any emotional overdose – neither you will encounter filthy plots – very rarely you will find the hero-heroine so much immersed in love that there’s nothing for them to do other than expressing love to each other through heavy dialogues and singing songs in the lakes of Kashmir(of course, sitting in shikara) – hardly you might find the protagonist hero beating up 20 goons to black and blue – wake up to new age Bollywood.
From the promos of Wake Up Sid many of us might have guessed that the character of SID may be on the same lines of Hritik in Lakshya or Aamir in Dil Chahta Hai – the question is – what would SID do if he doesn’t join army like Hritik or joins father’s business like Aamir – debutant director Ayan Mukherjee has managed to extend this character to greater heights because he has explored SID to his fullest and no doubt he has succeeded.
Story
Wake Up Sid is an untold story with respect to Bollywood – yet it is the story of every individual who is in his/her 20’s – the movie offers known questions with not so known answers.
Siddarth Mehra (Ranbir Kapoor) has an aim – but he is not aware of it – hence considered by the world as aimless creature. He was topper in school but ruins his graduation result – his careless lifestyle is blamed for this – you know how a failed person becomes target of every tom, dick and harry. Enters Ayesha (Konkana Sen) who moves to Mumbai with a dream of becoming a writer – meets Sid and both become best of friends – they struggle together. So the plot of the movie is very simple without twists and turns or any complications.
The movie opens with Sid studying for his TY exam but it seems that it would be the last thing for him to do in this world – the opening sequence itself is superb as if it’s a commitment to the audience that they wont be disappointed sitting throughout – the promise is kept.
Wake Up Sid is a journey of two friends in complete contrast – one is unconscious with respect to career and others very target specific but lost in misconception.
The biggest USP of the the movie is its treatment and the manner in which it is presented – the dialogues are kept very simple – straight from our day-to-day life – they fall very easily on our ears – yet they are effective. Even the boy-girl falling for each other doesn’t look very filmy.
Konkana & Ranbir
Konkana Sen as expected gave superb performance – now she is not an actress of regular genre – if its her then we know that it would be really different – the role of Ayesha could not have enacted better – Konkana Sen is definitely not in the rat race of the regular B’town actresses, she is in a totally different league. Its because of her talent that she has survived such a long way.
The characterization of Ayesha and Sid makes you feel good, specially when Ayesha thinks of Sid as a bacchcha kinda stuff – looks for mature stuff – finds it in Rahul – but feels too offended when Rahul addresses her as immature – the change in thought process of Ayesha is presented so beautifully that we can feel what Ayesha does.
Many people might have thought that casting Konkana opposite Ranbir would be a mismatch but just see Wake Up Sid you would taken away by their on screen chemistry – it will blow your mind out of surprise. Accepted, there are certain dull moments – the pace of the movie is also slowed in the second half – but the writing keeps the soul of the movie alive till the end.
Director & Other actors
The director Ayan Mukherjee provides a regular story with delighting touch of freshness and handles the script with maturity and understanding – the screenplay takes the movie to greater heights – there are few moments where the writing lets the movie down – but that’s very acceptable in the ambience of pathetic Bollywood releases all around us.
The college scenes of Wake Up Sid would definitely remind you of your college days. Sid’s friends look very cool and play their part perfectly, specially the guy whom we have seen in the Vodafone ad where he sees his results. Anupam Kher is original – he is one man who cant be questioned for error. Rahul Khanna once again demonstrates his killing looks, but he has fallen prey to typecasting – he is now a regular stuff for such kind of roles.
Wake Up Sid has broken some barriers and some myths of age old Hindi Cinema for instance there’s hardly any romantic scene – even there’s no bed scene or intimate moment when Sid stays at Ayesha’s flat for few days.
RATING : 3 / 5
Reviewed by Ashish Gharde
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