Wake Up Sid (Mukerji, 2009)

[sandeep]

Synopsis

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 Bombay, 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?

Characters

Ranbir Kapoor: Sidharth Mehra
That's me! Well, Sidharth Mehra really but everyone calls me Sid. I'm just a regular guy, I guess. I just finished college and have no idea what the heck I'm doing next. No one told me that I had to have a plan, so I never made one! If you ask me, the world would be a much better place if we all just slowed down and learnt to take it easy sometimes. That's kind of what I'm doing these days... just taking it easy... hanging with my buddies, watching TV, eating, sleeping, dreaming... that sort of thing, you know?

Konkona Sen Sharma: Aisha Bannerjee
God, there's so much to say about Aisha... She's new to Mumbai, and completely infatuated with the city. She left everyone and everything she knew in Kolkata to go after her dream of becoming a writer for this cool urban magazine called Mumbai Beat. She's creative, ambitious, focused, driven, brave... phew, basically everything I'm not!

Anupam Kher: Ram Mehra
Dad and I have nothing in common, really. He owns a company that manufactures bathroom fittings. Their speciality: these horrific gadgets called Flower Showers! They're exactly what they sound like-showers that look like flowers. I wish I was kidding, but I'm not. And now, he wants me to join the company! How am I going to get out of this one?

Supriya Pathak: Sarita
Mom has three obsessions: Watching TV serials, nagging me, and trying to learn English. I don't know which one bothers me more! But she's sweet, and always gives me money, even when dad tells her not to. And her Rajma Chawal is to die for!

Namit Das: Rishi
Rishi and I have been buddies since KG, and he hasn't changed one bit. He's always in love and always getting his heart broken. His current "true love" is Neha. They met on the first day of college, and have been obnoxiously stuck at the hip ever since. I don't get this 'love' business at all! Quite frankly, I feel like punching him in the face when he gets all mushy. We've had some great times together though.

Shikha Talsania: Laxmi
Laxmi is one of my best friends, though her best friend is food! I don't think I've ever seen her not eating. I swear! She's either munching on something, or talking about eating, or planning her next meal... how she manages to find time to study and top our class every year, I have no idea!

Out on 2nd October, 2009

[sandeep]

Saw the trailer in the cinema, its contemporary and one can identify with it... the aspirations of a young guy who doesn't know what to do with himself, will make for light entertainment...

[sandeep]

A partnership of UTV and Dharma, two very different approaches and styles of production, brings to us 'Wake up Sid', a youthful, truthful and soulful story.
 
Debudante director Ayan Mukerji has grasped quite a few things at his young age, and presented a film so different from Karan Johar's larger than life, melodramatic style. That, Karan was not driving this project, will become clear to all who see the film.
 
Ranbir Kapoor plays a very convincing Sid Mehra, fresh out of college, with many choices to make, a carefree lifestyle to live and friends to party with. Enter Aisha, another well played character by Konkona Sen Sharma. She is a little older, has her goals and ambitions in mind and works towards them, independently.
 
The way these two characters interact and how their lives unfold makes the plot of the film. It is simple, straight forward and touches some very relevant themes.
 
Sid's parents, played brilliantly by Supriya Pathak and Anupam Kher, display the challenges faced by most parents dealing with the new generation of kids.
 
Full points for the director, who in his first movie has managed to entertain and emotionally connect with the audience. At times the pace of the film slows down, at times you feel certain characters or ideas should have been played out more, but overall its a great effort.
 
Ending aside, this film is a light watch and is very different from the Karan Johar brand of movies, if that acts as a deterrent to any of you.
 
3.5/5

[shariqq]

Wake Up Sid, the latest movie from Karan Johar‘s camp by yet another debutant director, has been strongly marketed as a movie for the present day youth, the slacker generation that refuses to grow up. Unfortunately, the director comes from the same culture as his target audience, and lacks the maturity and wisdom that this movie requires in its telling. This failure turns a fantastic opportunity into a dismal melodrama heavily layered in saccharine, making it a movie that is more a generation's dream than a wakeup call.

Sid (Ranbir Kapoor) is a shallow rich kid, living on the surface of an easy life, fare from any form of responsibility and reality. He lives his life of cartoons, friends, parties and gadgets. Even when reality does hit him, he refuses to face his failings, choosing arrogant denial over humility. But when separated from his luxuries, he discovers his shortcomings. But does he learn the lessons of responsible living?

In this two-act story, first time director Ayan Mukherji sets up the premise quite well. Probably belonging to the same stratum of life, he understands the nuances of privileged upper class living and the dilemma that its youth is ignorant to. He fails miserably though in the second act, which becomes a fantasy of easy opportunities and even easier fulfillments. Satisfying Karan Johar's staple offerings of heavy-handed sentimentality as well as a paradise-like pseudo-reality, Wake Up Sid is a shallow product in the guise of smart contemporary filmmaking. It may be pleasant and easy to admire on the surface, but a bit of consideration uncovers how flimsy and filmy it is.

In a predictable casting that does half the job for him, Ranbir Kapoor, as the eponymous Sid, is the only reason that this movie is not a complete failure. Although a simple performance, he fittingly represents a section of the urban youth culture. He manages to make Sid identifiable and, therefore, somewhat likeable despite his flaws. Konkona Sen Sharma, on the other hand, replays an oft repeated performance that has now become her identified slot. Unfortunately, this merely reduces her credibility as an actor, something she should have been conscious of a few movies ago. Rahul Khanna, though, is already a lost cause. He has now made a career out of doing cameos as a loser, one who never gets the girl, that it's now become a cliché.

With a dismal soundtrack, mostly poor performances and a naive story, it's a wonder Wake Up Sid is not called Sid's Dream. For now, Akshaye Khanna (from Dil Chahta Hai) continues to hold claim to the more memorable character named Sid.

My Rating --> 2 of 5