Movie Review - WAKE UP SID - a somnolent awakening....

Genre : Drama

I am a little confused. When you see something so personal, you tend to think before passing judgments; but then again when you pay 300 bucks for it , it becomes a public issue! Ok, first time director Ayaan Mukherjee, clearly was too attached to this subject, because he langorously delves into the story of a spoilt brat and his awakening. But unfortunately half the theater snores ( especially the guys !) as he awakens.

No this is no Lakshya. Here too the first half is about a boy who is content spending his fathers hard earned fortune. He goes about in merriment untill one day he fails his exams and realizes the gravity of the situation. His parents arent impressed either and this seems to be the last straw. So he leaves home and finds a refuge in a friend's place. And slowly (really slowly) he begins to understand his responsibilities and that he needs to do something worthwhile in his lifetime. His friend ( an independent Bengali girl ) plays a big part in this.

Yeah, many many people could relate to this. And hence, in some parts the movie touches chords but then thats about it. As one of my friends would aptly put - "Director bechara Bhawnaaoo main beh gaya" because the film is too self involved. The director seems more interested in making the shot look impressive and colorful; and less about what the audience must be going through. Because even though there is a point to this story, it takes a rather long time to make it. Clearly the scissors should have been out before the film was.

Also, the story suffers because of enormously lengthy and sometimes preachy scenes. The director does come up with some colorful characters , but never uses them. There are no interesting subplots going along as the main plot drags. The very first sequence between Randhir and Konkana drags for pages and pages of dialogues. Yes, the dialogues are realistic but then in a film you need to keep a scene crisp unless really necessary.

As far as the ART direction/ cinematography is concerned, its fantabulous. Effort has been put in to make the movie look impressive and it does. Also, the music is peppy and does give you a reason or two to stay awake!

Ayaan certainly has great potential as a director. Some of the emotional scenes are handled brilliantly and I am sure, now that he has gotten over this extremely personal film he would think more objectively and come up with a more entertaining film. He could have taken queues from Farhaan when he made this film, on how to make this story into a better script.

Konkona Sen is in familiar territory. Its so sad to see that she has been typecasted into this typical Bengali independent girl who reads big novels and dreams big. Come on! she is much more talented and should definitely choose a different character to play. It seems like she walks out of the script of Page 3, right into this film. Anyways, this film belongs to Ranbir completely. As the spoilt kiddish arrogant brat Ranbir is spot on. Its a totally believable performance. He has this effortless screen presence ( very much like his father) and gives a rough idea of the range he possesses.

Finally, Wake up Sid, was a very good opportunity. But somehow the director could not make it very interesting. He tried to make it thought provoking, but most of the things you see on screen seem to give you a sense of de javu. It's probably doing the same thing differently.

Good luck to all the college guys who would be forced to go to this film by their girlfriends. And probably you would be snoring while they drools over Ranbir! Probably a one time watch , but then guys "INGLORIOUS BASTERDS" might be playing on the adjacent screen!

Rating : 5.5 / 10