Indian cinema is finally coming of age with established banners taking chances with new age directors & relevant themes. Wake up Sid is one such attempt. The movie opens with a last minute study routine that all of us have gone through some time of the other. The film connects with you from then on.
Ranbir Kapoor plays the rich kid Sid who has never thought of any plans beyond tonight and couldn't care less about making a career. Konkana Sen Sharma has just come to Bombay to make something of her in the field of creative writing. She has tastes ranging from Tagore to Annie Hall. How they meet at a party and become friends. And Sid goes about discovering himself with Aisha (Konkana), who is elder to him, as his muse. Their building romance is subtle & well presented.
The director delivers some powerful scenes. The one when Sid's dad asks him to leave home is par excellence. The director's sensibilities are obvious by portraying Sid as a boy who likes his bunch of people but is rude to others not his kind. As is generally the case in real life too. Attention to detail is visible from little things like Sid's servant's over-sized T-shirts which look like Sid's throwaways.
The music may not have been a chart buster, but flows with the movie. "Ikk Tara" is definitely the high point of the movie. Also, the background score is particularly good. In some scenes, the score begins and then stops playing abruptly just enough for the actors to deliver some intense scenes, then it begins again. A good experiment. Impactful too.
Ranbir with his stoned look is ideal for the lead character. His expressions are natural. Look for the sequence when he sees the result sheet to know that he has failed the exams. Konkana Sen Sharma takes over from where she left in Luck By Chance, not to say that she's repetitive, but an almost perfect antithesis to Sid.
There are some flaws like the friends keep coming in & going out & remain on the fringes of the film. They could have been more to them. There are some parts that do remind of Dil Chahta Hai & Lakhshya as the basic premise remains the same. But it does not take you on a journey to picturesque Goa or the Kargil war for Sid to wake up. It is more a journey within, near home. Watch it, it's worth.
