"Wake Up Sid" is a very good movie, though I think with a tiny bit of editing it could have been a great movie. Still, for anyone not familiar with Bollywood films, this would be a good entry for the unitiated.
Sid (Ranbir Kapoor) is a rather loathsome character when the story begins. Although he's been in college for years and is expected to graduate soon, he's never worked hard and has horrible grades...and has not passed his exams. Most folks would see this as a wake-up call but not Sid. Sid is a completely spoiled and immature brat. He soon leaves school and returns home to his parents...and expects to lounge about the house having fun. He has no plans to work and treats his mother very poorly. Well, his father is not pleased and announces that Sid is coming to work for his company. Now Sid expects this means he'll be an executive and will have little to do but collect a paycheck...but Dad is NOT planning on doing this but instead wants Sid to start at the bottom in the company and work his way up. Sadly, Sid puts almost no effort into the job and soon loses this job. Dad is furious....but even more furious when he sees Sid treating his mother like his servant. Enough is enough...and Sid is thrown out of the house. Amazingly, at this time, Sid feels very sorry for himself and shows himself to be completely ungrateful.
With no place to go, he shows up at Aisha's house. Aisha (Konkona Sen Sharma) went to school with Sid and agrees to let him stay. But she soon regrets this, as Sid just sits around her apartment all day...doing nothing and leaving the place a mess. And, when she comes home from a hard day's work, Sid hasn't made dinner and he expects HER to do it!!
Despite Sid being a disgusting person, you know where the film is going next mostly because many Bollywood films follow a formula very closely....even more so than American movies. This brings me to a huge problem with the story....they made Sid so disagreeable and immature that he can be very off-putting AND his change at the end seems too extreme and comes too quickly. Still, despite this, the film does work...and the sweet ending still very sweet despite the awfulness of Sid!
Plot summary
In Mumbai, Sid Mehra is, in the words of his father, an arrogant, spoiled brat. He lives with a doting mother, subservient brother, and a father who covers his expenses and credit card bills. Sid takes his college finals then starts work at his father's business; he lasts less than a week before walking out. At a graduation party, he meets Aisha, newly arrived from Calcutta and set on becoming a writer. He shows her the city and helps her refurbish a rented flat. He asks if she'd like to progress from friend to something more, but she says no: he lacks ambition and isn't her type. Will her words, his exam results, a confrontation with his parents, and a break with his friends be enough to wake Sid up?
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Movie Reviews
Sid the man-child needs to grow up.
Ranbir Kapoor - The Star-Actor!
Hindi Cinema has Witnessed Many Great Actors, right from Balraj Sahni, Dilip Kumar, Madan Puri, Amrish Puri, Pran, Jeevan, Sanjeev Kumar, Mithun Chakraborty, Amitabh Bachchan, Shatrughan Sinha, Dharmendra, Vinod Khanna, Rishi Kapoor, Govinda, Jackie Shroff, Ajay Devgn, Paresh Rawal, Om Puri, Atul Kulkarni, to name a few.
Now add Ranbir Kapoor to that legendary list. In 'Wake Up Sid', Ranbir delivers a masterful, accurate performance, that is above any award, in my opinion. Its an embodiment, that has been handled with superb sensitivity & proficient understanding.
'Wake Up Sid' tells the story of spoiled, careless rich-kid Sid Mehra, a college student who is taught the meaning of life by Aisha, an aspiring writer from Calcutta.
'Wake Up Sid' is a terrific film. A film, that leaves behind a great moral, that's truly inspiring. Ayan Mukerji's Screenplay & Direction, both, are wonderfully constructed. 'Wake Up Sid' offers enlightenment along-with genuine, meaningful entertainment.
Highly Recommended!
A superbly crafted coming-of-age drama that describes two different phases of Maturity.
Wake Up Sid (2009) : Brief Review -
A superbly crafted coming-of-age drama that describes two different phases of Maturity. Wake Up Sid written and directed by Ayan Mukerji may not please audience of a certain matured age (35+ i mean) because it does not really have that sort of intellectual tonic but it is simply unmissable and irresistable life-lesson for youth audience who are still climbing up the ladder of becoming matured, especially the backbenchers. You know from teenager to youth and from youth to manhood, there is only a small gap of 4-5 years but for some people it takes a decade to cross these phases of life. Wake Up Sid is the same old formula of a spoilt boy turning into a matured and responsible man. Hollywood Classic 'Captain Courageous' (1937) started this formula way back in 30s where a spoilt rich and naughty child learns the discipline from a wild, poor man. This same formula has been used in so many films that i can't even count easily. In Bollywood, there was a masterpiece like 'Jagriti' (1954) with the same formula blended with education system and just like that many other films added something of their own by keeping the same idea at centre. Wake Up Sid used the same formula for youthful drama but the film is highly driven according to taste of multiplex audience. That urban touch took away the simplicity and wide appeal but whatever it has to say, it's awfully enough for the projected audience. There are some flaws here and there and it's little long because of songs but thankfully every single song in this film is gonna get you grooving. With this film, i can say, Ranbir got his first ever variable and matured role. Later, he did Barfi and Sanju that cemented his matured acting skills forever. Konkona is as always superb and the supporting cast is good. Undoubtedly, this is Ayan's Best Work and best Writing till date but he couldn't help adding that Dharma's Glamourous Touch which harmed the soul of the script. Overall, Very Good.
RATING - 7/10*
By - #samthebestest.