Just came back from watching Wake up Sid and cant wait to share the review in MS. Well straight out, if you are wondering whether to catch this movie or not – I suggest Go for it. It is a fresh movie from a fresh director – Ayan Mukherji. Who is he by the way?? I wonder where he was for so long while we were served some really awful dose of distasteful movies one after the other last month. (Sorry I have a sour taste in my mouth after watching What’s your Rashee...)
The movie is a glimpse into a phase in the life of a rich (spoilt) college graduate (not to be). It’s a phase that almost all guys have been through. A phase where you know you don’t belong in a stereotype job but do not have the guts to follow your heart – there is no way to be sure whether it makes sense to pursue what your heart desires.
Perhaps because of the unhappy grades you get in the academic life. More often than not this drives many guys to be overzealous in their ultimate profession and they become workaholics whose hunger for recognition remains very strong throughout... perhaps this is something that has not been explored too well in movie. I felt Ranbir’s character gets his way in the end quite easily. He has a hobby of taking pictures so he ends up landing a job as an assistant photographer in a local magazine... quiet cheesy aint it.
However all this is not at all the pretext of the film, but what you will eventually infer... surely, specially if you are in your late 20s. The film overall feels fresh, fast paced and quite interesting throughout.
Maybe I am being biased here... for various reasons. I as a rule used to leave exam halls nervy, worried and guilty. "I shud have studied, I should have worked hard, I shud have..... mummy papa kya sochenge... and then to hell with all that – lets party !!" What I am sure of is that there will be many many more who would associate strongly with Ranbir’s character.
The movie is NOT a formulae stereotype – guy chasing his true calling... Evidently the film doesn’t really end with a conclusion. Where it ends... it just shows the beginning of several things, konkona and ranbir’s love, ranbir’s new job, Konkona’s new column.... and so on. You don’t need to ponder about what will happen next... One very interesting phase is over, we enjoyed watching it. Let’s leave it at that. Period.
Performance wise I think the director has done a brilliant job by having the story revolve around only few characters... all of whom have been portrayed superbly by the designated actors.
Anupam Kher the loving father, who has had to work hard to establish a good business and now wants his son to at least develop a mature mindset and respect life... and yet not expect too much from him
Supriya Pathak – who being from a humble, less educated background, is trying very hard to learn English so that her son does not look down upon her. Fantastic performance. Best of the lot. Konkona Sen – A creative, ambitious Bengali(how predictable...) who comes to Mumbai in search of a career as a writer but above all in search of independence and whatever it has to offer.
Every character is Just right in how they are portrayed and what they have to say. However the Movies IS, as it should be, ALL ABOUT SID. Hats off to Ranbir kapoor. He has looked Cute, he has looked sexy, he has looked scared, confused and whatever else the movie demanded. This is an urban flick, that feels light, but has substance. We need more of such films. I as an audience would definitely wait for more. Mr. Ayan Mukherji I hope you’re listening