Wake Up Sid - Movie Review

Published: January 13, 2009

By JENNIFER HOPFINGER

Starring Ranbir Kapoor, Konkona Sen Sharma, Anupam Kher, Supriya Pathak, Rahul Khanna, Kashmira Shah

Debutant director Ayan Mukerji uses an adept light touch on this sweet and subtle coming-of-age story, starring Ranbir Kapoor and Konkona Sen Sharma, who endearingly portray two 20-somethings with a lot of growing up to do.

 

Although Sharma has gotten some prominent roles such as this one, she’s underutilized by the industry given her talent—perhaps because many potential male leads don’t want their co-star to outperform them. And Sharma does indeed upstage Kapoor, but the imbalance compliments their characters, who are at different stages in life. That’s not to say Kapoor doesn’t do a commendable job. Wake Up Sid is only his third film and he’s well on his way to becoming one of the best in Bollywood.

 

Sid (Kapoor) is a rich brat, but he’s affable enough of the time. After he flunks out of college, his dad gets him a job at the family company and Sid screws that up, too. He behaves more like a preteen than a post-adolescent, which makes his need to change all the more pressing. Aisha (Sharma) is a driven woman, a few years older than Sid, who moves to Mumbai to become a writer. She and Sid meet and immediately click, but instead of falling into bed together—which crosses both their minds—they ease into a comfortable friendship. Aisha gets her own apartment and lands a job at a hip magazine. Sid is impressed by her willingness to face her fears in order to make something of herself, but she isn’t yet mature enough to admit that she needs other people—and she’s afraid of taking a chance on someone as shiftless as Sid. Like a kid, he only lives for the moment, which makes him a risky emotional proposition. But his biggest problem is he’s never cared about anything enough to work for it. A raison d'être is something daddy can’t buy him—Sid’s got to find it on his own, and Aisha provides him with the inspiration to do it.

 

Sid’s interaction with his exceedingly loving and involved parents (Anupam Kher and Supriya Pathak), who spoil him out of tenderness and are genuinely worried about his future, could have easily come off as sappy and cliché, but instead it’s quite affecting. After Sid has a huge blowup with his father, he moves out in a huff and crashes at Aisha’s place. Living together isn’t easy since Sid has no idea how to take care of himself and Aisha won’t tolerate his helplessness.

 

As their friendship deepens, they both learn that everyone doesn’t have to follow the same path—to find love or success—and that happiness comes from being true to oneself.

Wake Up Sid is rated Must See.

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