Wake Up Sid

Growing up in a middle class family, you are constantly badgered to make up your mind about your career and then expected to work towards it. From where I come, most kids follow their fathers’ footsteps and join up for engineering – irrespective of whether they have the aptitude for it or not. And most do ok in life – grabbing a software job, frequenting Bangalore’s numerous pubs, till they (or parents) find a girl and get married - generally accepting life for what it is.

Ofcourse, none of us had the luxury of not doing anything – nothing at all – because our dads didn’t have a whole lot of money. But just imagine if they did – wouldn’t you also not bother too much about what you want to do in life ? If there was an option just to go on long drives, eat out, holiday, party - without bothering about the credit card bill ? Not to mention, no horrible boss and/or a shitty job – sounds really good, right ?

Well if wishes were horses … Nevertheless its still good fun to indulge in this fantasy, which goes around by the name of Wake Up Sid. You can immerse yourselves in this fantasy land where you have a cool SUV to drive, every gadget you can think of, a no-limits credit card, great friends and a certain roguish boyish charm. Ranbir Kapoor fits into this role as a hand in a glove – as a lazy confused young man who just doesn’t see the point of being all grown-up. He is happy as he is – bunking college, partying every night and tiptoeing back into the house at daybreak. Daresay, he does it much better than Hrithik in Lakshya !!

During one such party, Sid meets Aisha (Konkona) who has just arrived in Mumbai hoping to be a journalist. Even though she is much older to him, they like each other’s company and soon become friends. He helps her find and settle into a studio apartment – carrying on with his usual life otherwise.

However life delivers a kick to his cojones when college ends – resulting in a huge fight with dad and Sid walks out of his house in a huff. Having no other option, Sid bunks up with Aisha. Living in the small studio apartment with her, Sid starts understanding facets of life that he had so far refused to look at – and discovers what he wants to do in life. And along that, he discovers love as well.

I am sure most of you would have guessed the story anyway – it was never a big secret. However, execution is top notch and Ranbir Kapoor makes Sid very believable – and very lovable. Konkona is as usual superb at playing Aisha – and looks much more groomed than normal, thanks to Karan Johar's fashion tips. Anupam Kher doesn’t have to try too hard for his scenes and the friends come across as very genuine. The only weak character is Sid’s mom played by Ratna Pathak Shah – her broken English can be quite grating on the nerves.

Script-wise, there was two weak points. A small one is Aisha’s flat makeover. How can a middle class girl without a job in Bombay afford to refurbish a down-in-the-dumps flat completely (painting it etc) ? The other one is the climax scene – it seemed quite contrived and didn’t fit in well with the very natural screenplay otherwise. The movie has a very real worldly feel to it – even though it’s a Karan Johar production – because its shot entirely in Bombay and you can spot numerous familiar locales. And because there are no dream sequence songs shot in Greece or Switzerland or people living in huge mansions.

Overall, a good watchable film with two great performances by Ranbir and Konkona.



And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the 100th review I have put up !!