I finally caught Wake Up Sid and here’s what I thought of it.

The theme is coming of age, and while it seems cliched, I cannot think of many Hindi movies with a similar theme, save Lakshya. Just a heads up, Lakshya is still the best film carrying this theme.

The plot has Sid, an affable rich kid – the reason I don’t call him a spoilt brat is because he isn’t called Monty, Vicky or Rocky. He is a nice guy, who by no fault of his, is rich and is as mature as someone like him should be.

Then there’s Aisha, who is very reminiscent of a similar character again played by Konkana Sen Sharma in Luck By Chance. She is an antipode to Sid, and never really gets past seeing him as a kid until the end, where she realizes she is the heroine, needs to get together with Sid and has just 15 mins. (of movie time) to do that.

Before I give any other ideas (I suspect the review might get harsh further down), let me summarize that Wake Up Sid is a nice one-time watch, and you shouldn’t miss it just for Ranbir Kapoor. Don’t expect a Luck By Chance or Lakshya or Ranbir doing a full monty, and you’ll have a good time.

Back to the movie, the plot is quite linear without deploying any twists and is as simple as the lead character Sid. But there were a few things I couldn’t digest.

Ranbir Kapoor is outstanding; he gets under the skin of the character perfectly and exudes the right amount of innocence. He keeps the performance so understated and real that I almost felt like yelling, “Dude, ham it up !! You’re in a freakin’ Bollywood movie !”.

But the performance, ironically, works against the story, because Sid seems so genuinely nice that his side of the romance never really blooms. When he runs down to meet Aisha in last scene near those wave-breakers in Bombay and says, “I love you”, I swear I was expecting a “Didi” after that. Technically, it is a shortcoming in the script.

Iktara, the superb little gem from Amit Trivedi, is used very effectively, and I am glad it wasn’t wasted. But I couldn’t control my laughter when the slow male version in Punjabi begins. A KJ movie without a single utterance of Soniye, Aavanga, Javanga, Mainu and Tenu is a rarity, and I’m guessing they took their chances with this song as the lead character’s last name is Mehra (Punjabi). But someone please explain why a song in Punjabi !

Here’s the thing – when a background singer sings some lyrics, the characters should atleast understand what the poor guy is singing.

In the acting department, Konkana Sen Sharma is okay, Anupam Kher is thankfully restrained, Supriya Pathak contributes to some sweet moments and Namit Das, of The President is Coming, gets a good shot which I hope translates to more roles in the future.

Lastly, the music doesn’t come across as noteworthy (sparing the obvious Iktara). As mentioned in the music review, I hope SEL reinvent themselves and move out of their comfort zone.

Overall, I like the way Ranbir Kapoor is progressing as an actor. I always thought he was good with that rare quality of screen presence. He was very fine in Saawariya (that reminds me, I liked the movie), never bothered to complete Bachna Ae Haseeno and the promos of Ajab Prem Ki Gajab Kahani seem very interesting.

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Please share your thoughts (and defend yourself) if you are among the ones who thought Wake Up Sid was a great movie.

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