Diwali movie review - Wake Up Sid

Wake Up Sid for the Hindi movie audience is a combination of elements borrowed from Lakshya, Waqt and Dil Chahta Hei. It’s Lakshya without the war, Waqt without deaths or lectures and Dil Chahta Hei without three love affairs. But the absence of these doesn’t turn the tide against it. This is a youthful movie which has the nostalgic flair of Rock On. You might not have been wannabe rock star in your younger days, but at some point of time you were a lazy, wayward, irresponsible person with no clear plan about the future.

Whether or not your dad has a shower manufacturing company which feeds your appetite for pizzas, parties, branded wear and luxury SUVs, you were not worried about the future. That’s what makes Wake up Sid universally appealing. Debutant director Ayan Mukerji’s craft is definitely into character development. The characters are absolute delights to watch. Be it the buddies who hang out with Sid or his parents who are in different tracks to correct their son. Ranbir Kapoor and Konkona Sen Sharma live up to their lead actors tags. Sid’s transformation from rich spoilt brat to poor loser and poor loser to upcoming winner is believable and Ranbir scores high on that regard. Konkona Sen on the other hand has a more grounded character to play which she does with all her charm. Anupam Kher did give a shade of Amitabh Bachchan’s character from Waqt, but his character chose to go by a more realistic route to guide his son. Supriya Pathak’s mother-act was a one which many mothers would find themselves associating with. For the first time ever, a non-actor like Kashmira Shah was cast in a role which suits her and she didn’t make us cringe this time. Rahul Khanna’s cameo was so well blended into the storyline that he almost gives the impression of a significant character.

The tracks though they are not Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s best, are pretty good with Iktara being my personal favourite. It’s the co-existence of contrasting characters which makes Wake Up Sid thoroughly watchable. It may not make you laugh till you cry or make you cry till you run out of tears. Neither will it prompt you to hold your lover’s hand while you are watching it. It’s actually a simple movie with a relevant message. But the message is so skillfully merged with the romantic premise and the nostalgic factor that you will never classify it as a preachy movie. That’s exactly why Wake Up Sid is a must watch.