Ayan Mukerji makes an impressive debut as a director in Bollywood with his maiden venture, Wake Up Sid.
It is the story of Sidharth Mehra (Ranbir Kapoor), a lazy, unmotivated slacker from Bombay (Mumbai) who has just finished his college. His whole life undergoes a series of changes after taking his final year college exams. Sid’s world is breezy, carefree and without any true responsibilities. He lives a life a rather aimless existence. The most important elements in his life are his friends, his camera, his car and his X-box 360. Wake Up Sid movie review…
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 Mumbai.
Ambitious, well read and driven, Aisha has come to Mumbai to realize her dreams as a writer for a magazine. She is a woman who knows exactly where she is going. Despite their contrasting personalities, Sid becomes Aisha’s first friend in the city.
As Aisha sets up her life in Mumbai, 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 are very 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?
There is a level of rare maturity in Ayan Mukerji’s control of the proceedings from the beginning and even so in handling of Ranbir and Konkona who are so diverse in their approach to cinema.
Wake up Sid is a mature love story where a mature, older woman is seeking her independence and on the other hand, there is an immature rich, spoilt and a lazy brat who is so dependent on his parents and their wealth.
This dramatic film is an exploration of Siddharth and Aisha’s relationship dynamics as well as Sid waking up to the life he is living.
Wake up Sid mirrors those years with flourish. This one’s a simple story that strikes a chord instantly. Hats off to Karan Johar for imposing faith in a new director who has handled the film with maturity. Go for it.
Cast of Wake Up Sid:
Ranbir Kapoor
Konkona Sen Sharma
Rahul Khanna
Anupam Kher
Supriya Pathak
Namit Das
Shikha Talsania
Credits & Crew of Wake Up Sid:
Directed by Ayan Mukerji
Produced by – Hiroo Yash Johar, Karan Johar
Associate Producer – Apoorva Mehta
Cinematography – Anil Mehta ISC
Music – Shankar Ehsaan Loy
Lyrics – Javed Akhtar
Story & Screenplay – Ayan Mukherji
Dialogues – Niranjan Iyengar
Production Design – Amrita Mahal Nakai
Editor – Shan Mohammed
Costume Design – Manish Malhotra, Priyanjali Lahiri
Sound Design – Baylon Fonseca
Casting – Nandini Shrikent
Wake Up Sid, movie review