Wake Up Sid is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age comedy-drama film written and directed by Ayan Mukerji and produced by Dharma Productions.[2] It stars Ranbir Kapoor and Konkona Sen Sharma. Set in contemporary Mumbai, the film tells the story of a careless rich college brat (Kapoor) taught the value of owning up to responsibility by an aspiring writer (Sen Sharma) from Kolkata.
| Wake Up Sid | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Ayan Mukerji |
| Written by | Story and Screenplay: Ayan Mukerji Dialogues: Niranjan Iyengar |
| Produced by |
|
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Anil Mehta |
| Edited by | Shan Mohammed |
| Music by | Score: Amit Trivedi Songs: Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy Amit Trivedi |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | UTV Motion Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 138 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Budget | ₹18 crore[1] |
| Box office | ₹47.10 crore[1] |
Wake Up Sid was released on 2 October 2009, and proved to be a commercial success at the box office. It received widespread critical acclaim upon release, with critical acclaim for its novel concept, themes, direction, story, screenplay, soundtrack, and cast performances.
At the 55th Filmfare Awards, Wake Up Sid received 9 nominations, including Best Film, Best Director (Mukerji), Best Actor (Kapoor) and Best Supporting Actress (Pathak), and won 3 awards – Best Actor (Critics) (Kapoor), Best Debut Director (Mukerji, tying with Zoya Akhtar for Luck by Chance), and Best Female Playback Singer (Kavita Seth for "Iktara"). The film is now available on Netflix.[3]
Plot
editThis article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. (September 2024) |
Siddharth Mehra (Ranbir Kapoor), also known as Sid, is a gifted, talented, super-qualified brainiac, yet extremely lazy and uninterested in his studies despite the fact that he is in his final year of college. His father, Ram Mehra (Anupam Kher), is a wealthy businessman in Mumbai who wants his son to excel, while his mother, Sarita Mehra (Supriya Pathak), is a housewife often frustrated by Sid's incompetence yet puts up with behaviour, ending up pampering him. Depicted as a spoiled, lazy slacker, Sid shows little concern for his plans after graduating, just barely studying on the night before his final exams and having no interest in working. While writing his final exam in the exam hall, Sid struggles throughout the entire duration of the exam, nervously unsure of each question and certain that he would fail his exams this semester and have to repeat the course the following year, whereas all of his classmates (including his friends) confidently progress through their test papers, having intensely studied long and hard in advance. Sid imagines some classmates insulting and demoralizing him while his friends give him words of encouragement. Hoping to answer enough questions correctly to at least pass, Sid feels confident to finish his exam. Right after the exams are over, Sid and his friends go to a fancy restaurant to eat together and then go shopping at a mall to purchase very expensive, branded goods. Sid spends money on the credit card that his father gave him to cover his expenses and bills.
Soon, Sid's father offers to purchase him his favourite Porsche car if he agrees to work in his company for three months, which Sid accepts after his father reduces the offer to one month of work. Later that night, Sid attends his college's farewell party hosted by one of his college friends, Debbie, where he happens to meet Aisha Banerjee (Konkona Sen Sharma), who is Debbie's friend and has recently relocated from Kolkata to work as a writer for Mumbai Beat, a well-known magazine company in Mumbai. Sid is taken aback because the magazine for which Aisha is applying is his subscription magazine, and he is intrigued by the magazine's various interesting photographs after all. Sid takes Aisha to a beach to enjoy the city view and asks her whether she is afraid of living alone in a large city like Mumbai. Aisha answers that although she is terrified, becoming a writer for the world's largest media company had been her dream since she was a child, and she wished to pursue that dream. The next day, Sid visits his father's company and is assigned by his father to work like the other employees on the first day and carefully study hundreds of company files. He decides to dress casually for the meeting because he feels that formal attire is inappropriate for him. However, because Sid is uninterested in his father's business from the start, he eventually quits his job and gives up his desire for a luxury car because he can no longer handle the office workload.
Meanwhile, Aisha informs Sid that she is planning to relocate because the hostel where she currently resides has too many mice. Sid assists Aisha by providing contacts for renters in Mumbai at reasonable prices. That day, Sid accompanies Aisha to an in-house owned by a flirtatious woman named Sonia (Kashmira Shah). Sid is disappointed after seeing the room that Sonia had rented out because it was filthy and neglected for a long time. However, Aisha feels at ease with the rental house and decides to rent it because she plans to clean and redecorate the room and is very interested in the city view from the top floor. Sid then assists Aisha in purchasing the necessary equipments and enlists his friends' help to repaint the house. Later, Aisha has a final job interview with Kabir Chaudhary (Rahul Khanna), the CEO of Mumbai Beat, and is finally accepted to officially work at the company. When the final exam results come out a week later, much to his misery, Sid learns that he failed while the rest of his classmates (including his friends) aced the exams with great-to-decent grades, this delaying his graduation for at least another year. An irritated and depressed Sid's father forces him to apologise to his mother after learning that Sid has hurt her feelings, but Sid has a heated argument with his father until he hastily decides to pack his bags and leave the house after an extremely upset, livid blowout.
Sid, who has no money, then arrives at Aisha's house and asks for permission to stay for a few days. Aisha, who feels indebted for everything he has done for her, decides to assist him and let him stay for a while. The next day, Aisha wakes up early because it is her first day of work, while Sid (who has no money and no job) wakes up during the day and begins searching the refrigerator for food but is unable to find instant food as there are only raw vegetables, despite the fact that he has no idea how to cook. After work, Aisha returns home and is surprised. Upon learning that Sid does not have enough money to purchase food, Aisha cooks dinner for him. The next day, Sid resumes his hobby of photographing various events, activities, and scenery around the house with his old camera. He even requests Sonia to teach him how to fry eggs so that he can serve them to Aisha when she returns home from work. However, because of the stress she feels at work, a disgusted Aisha shouts at Sid for his inability to keep her house organized and storms out in anger, leaving Sid alone in the house. Sid tries to contact Aisha several times to apologise but in vain. The next day, when Aisha returns home from Sonia's house, she is surprised to find her house reorganized by Sid. She then advises Sid to return home and work for his father's company, but Sid declines for wanting to work in a field that he is interested in and passionate about.
Aisha introduces Sid to Amit, a photographer director at Mumbai Beat, who is impressed by Sid's talent after seeing his photographs and decides to hire him as an intern in his division. While Sid is away for his first day of work, his mother comes to Aisha's house to give her some money, but Aisha politely declines the money because she considers Sid to be a good friend. Hearing this, Sid's mother gives the two some of Sid's favourite mangoes while asking Aisha not to inform Sid about her arrival. After living with Aisha, Sid is motivated to change into a hardworking, responsible, and productive person, and he always tries to assist her with household chores. He is becoming more active in his work because he has discovered his passion. Soon, Sid receives an offer to photograph a boy and his mother living next to Aisha's house, which reminds Sid of his childhood memories of spending time with his mother, and he goes to briefly meet his mother and apologise for previously hurting her heart. The next day, Sid requests Amit for permission to photograph for the next issue of Mumbai Beat in order to demonstrate that his work is worthy of inclusion. On the other hand, Aisha's article is finally approved by Kabir to be included in the magazine because it is very meaningful and touching.
After a few days, Sid appears ecstatic after receiving a promotion letter to become an assistant photographer and his first paycheck at Mumbai Beat. For the first time in months, Sid immediately visits his father's office to apologise for leaving the house and rejecting the job offer. He claims that now he has a job that he enjoys and that he has received his first salary, causing his father to beam with pride and embrace his son. However, Aisha is heartbroken and furious to learn that Sid is leaving, but a confused and hurt Sid returns home nevertheless. Back home, Sid discovers that he has accidentally brought Aisha's shirt along with his belongings, while Aisha appears lonely after Sid's departure. The next morning, Sid receives the latest issue of Mumbai Beat, wherein he comes across an article written by Aisha and quickly realises that the article is about Aisha's life experience in Mumbai and her meeting for him. Aisha reveals at the end of the article that she has fallen in love with Sid, which makes him realise that Aisha's attitude has been her sincerity and affection for him. Sid hurriedly drives to the beach from his car in the rainy weather because he is certain that Aisha is there, as it was after all their favourite spot. The film concludes with Sid approaching Aisha and declaring his love for her before they finally embrace each other, signalling the start of their love affair.
Cast
edit- Ranbir Kapoor as Siddharth "Sid" Mehra
- Konkona Sen Sharma as Aisha Banerjee
- Anupam Kher as Ram Mehra
- Supriya Pathak as Sarita Mehra
- Rahul Khanna as Kabir Choudhary
- Kashmera Shah as Sonia Gill
- Shikha Talsania as Laxmi Inder Advani
- Namit Das as Rishi Atul Raheja
- Krutika Bolaki as Neha, Rishi's love interest
- Rahul Pendkalkar as Sanjay "Sanju" Bapat
- Sanat Sawant as Jay Mehra
- Shruti Bapna as Debbie
- Nitin Chatterjee as a restaurant steward
- Kainaz Motivala as Tanya Lathia
- Mukesh Rawal as Mr. Lathia, Tanya's Father, Ram Mehra's close friend
- Atisha Naik as Sanju's mother
- Asif Ali Baig as Raj
- Munir Kabani as Amit, Head Photographer at Mumbai Beat
- Mohsin Ali Khan as Chhotu, Sid's servant
- Huzefa Gadiwala
Production
editShooting
editWake Up Sid was entirely shot in Mumbai, covering the areas of South Mumbai and Bandra. The college sequence was shot at H. R. College of Commerce and Economics near Churchgate, Mumbai.
Release
editTheatrical release
editWake Up Sid released on 2 October 2009, coinciding with the Gandhi Jayanti extended weekend.
Television Rights
editWake Up Sid's television rights were sold to Colors at the time of its premiere, whence it would subsequently premiere on UTV Movies, and later Bindass. Eventually, after the Disney acquisition of Star India, the film began premiering with multiple slot re-runs on Star Gold Select.
Home Video
editWake Up Sid's DVD was published by UTV Home Video.
Game
editUTV Indiagames also released a mobile video game based on the film.[4]
Reception
editBox office
editWake Up Sid opened well in India and overseas markets. Its opening weekend gross was ₹215 million (US$2.6 million) of which the domestic gross was ₹170 million (US$2.0 million). It was number one in the box office during its first and second weeks, number four during its third week, and number three during its fourth week.
In the United Kingdom, the film collected US$165,934, while in the US, the collections were US$717,977. By its fourth week, it grossed $348,351 in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Do Knot Disturb also released during the same time, but Wake Up Sid got a larger portion of the audience.
Critical reception
editWake Up Sid received widespread critical acclaim upon release, with high praise for its novel concept, themes, direction, story, screenplay, soundtrack and performances of the cast.
Subhash K. Jha from Bollywood Hungama gave Wake Up Sid a rave review stating that it is, "a triumph on many levels [...] Ayan Mukerji takes the age-old dramatic conflicts of our commercial cinema into understated corridors.[5] Similarly, Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the film 4 out of 5 stars as well as a "thumbs up" stating that it is "strongly recommended."[6] Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave the film 3.5 out of 5 stars, stating that Wake Up Sid "has its heart in the right place and marks the breakout of a bright, shining star who has come into his own so early in his acting career. Watch it, and be awestruck by Ranbir."[7]
Mayank Shekhar of Hindustan Times gave it 3.5 out of 4 stars and states, "Wake Up Sid belongs to a sweet genre that, without doubt, flows on from Farhan Akhtar's Dil Chahta Hai (2001): part-Hollywood; part-Bollywood; mostly coming-of-age; subtly romantic; largely original; authentic in feel; light in weight; English in expression; Hindi in language."[8] Avijit Ghosh of The Times of India gave it 3.5 out of 4 stars and suggests that, "Wake Up Sid becomes a sort of template of how GenNow navigate their lives: deal with their own little rebellions, find meaning to their own definitions of independence and handle their own set of mistakes. It feels good when the two friends finally meet in driving rain under the grey skies by the sea. Refreshing and heart-warming, Wake Up Sid really puts you in the mood for love."[9] Noyon Jyoti Parasara of AOL India gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars and praised the director saying, "Ayan Mukerji arrives in style and manages to leave his own mark on the film despite having a producer like Karan Johar whose other productions always tend to have his stamp. Wake Up Sid really puts you in the mood for love."[10]
Joginder Tuteja of the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) calls the film "flawless" and gave it 3.5 stars out of 5. He states: "There are 5 things that make Wake Up Sid a delightful affair. It has a constant flow throughout; no over-the-top or understated drama; no ultra-emotional strangulation of audiences; absolutely no yuppie cool dude act; and last but not the least, this is an original and refreshing story."[11] Rachel Saltz of The New York Times argues that: "With no big production numbers (songs play over montage sequences), a quiet style and credible characters, Wake Up Sid is Bollywood in an indie mood, a film for people like Aisha and Sid: young and educated. It may not be as hip as Bombay Beat, the magazine where the two work, but it shows that Mr. Mukerji is a director to watch."[12]
In one point of criticism, Sudhish Kamath of Chennai's The Hindu labeled the closing moments as a "stock-ending" and noted that, despite the film's overall effectiveness, the ending "leaves you a little disappointed."[13] Variety's Joe Leydon found the film "instantly forgettable", but praised the performances of Sharma and Kapoor, as well noting how "effortlessly appealing" the film is, stating: "...this atypically low-key Bollywood romantic comedy somehow manages to remain pleasantly diverting throughout its 138-minute running time."[14]
Controversy
editOn 2 October, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena supporters protested to halt the screening of Wake Up Sid in Mumbai and Pune. The MNS objected the use of the word "Bombay" instead of "Mumbai" in the film.[15]
Accolades
editSoundtrack
editThe music was composed by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy with lyrics by Javed Akhtar. The soundtrack was released on 21 August 2009 to positive reviews.[24][25] Amit Trivedi, who provided the film's background score, guest-composed the song "Iktara", its reprise and extended version, all of which were written by his frequent collaborator Amitabh Bhattacharya. Song "Boondon Ke Moti", an extension to Iktara, sung by Salim Merchant remains unreleased till date.
References
edit- ^ a b "Wake Up Sid – Movie – Box Office India". boxofficeindia.com. Archived from the original on 28 September 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- ^ Money, By. (9 October 2009) VFX effects worked wonders to Wake Up Sid Archived 2 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Entertainment.oneindia.in. Retrieved on 13 January 2017.
- ^ "Wake Up Sid | Netflix". www.netflix.com. Archived from the original on 17 September 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
- ^ "Wake Up Sid". phoneky.com. Archived from the original on 5 December 2020. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
- ^ Hungama, Bollywood (3 October 2009). "Subhash K Jha speaks about Wake Up Sid : Bollywood News – Bollywood Hungama". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 14 October 2023. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
- ^ Hungama, Bollywood (2 October 2009). "Wake Up Sid Review 4/5 | Wake Up Sid Movie Review | Wake Up Sid 2009 Public Review | Film Review". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 19 January 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
- ^ Masand's movie review: Wake Up Sid refreshing:News18 Videos. Ibnlive.in.com. Retrieved on 13 January 2017.
- ^ "Review: Wake Up Sid!". Hindustan Times. 8 October 2009. Archived from the original on 8 October 2009.
- ^ Wake Up Sid Movie Review, Trailer, & Show timings at Times of India Archived 5 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved on 13 January 2017.
- ^ "Yahoo!". www.aol.in. Archived from the original on 20 October 2009. Retrieved 15 November 2009.
- ^ Tuteja, Joginder (2 October 2009). "'Wake Up Sid' a delightful movie (Film Review – Rating: *** 1/2)". IANS. Archived from the original on 5 October 2009. Retrieved 8 November 2009.
- ^ New York Times review Archived 16 January 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Nytimes.com (2 October 2009). Retrieved on 13 January 2017.
- ^ Sudhish Kamath (9 October 2009). "Wake up to a fresh breeze – Wake Up Sid". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 14 October 2023. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
- ^ Joe Leydon (6 October 2009). "Review: Wake Up Sid". Variety. Archived from the original on 14 September 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
- ^ "'Wake Up Sid' runs peacefully in Mumbai, MNS awaits on-screen apology". Mid-Day. 3 October 2009. Archived from the original on 18 July 2024. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
- ^ 3 Idiots shines at Filmfare Awards Archived 10 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Timesofindia.indiatimes.com (27 February 2010). Retrieved on 13 January 2017.
- ^ "Nominations for Nokia 16th Annual Star Screen Awards 2009". Bollywood Hungama. 5 March 2010. Archived from the original on 5 March 2010. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
- ^ "Stardust Awards 2010: Winners List". www.merinews.com. Archived from the original on 22 January 2010. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
- ^ "Stardust awards 2010 : Nominees complete list". www.merinews.com. Archived from the original on 30 December 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
- ^ "Hindi Awards Star Guild Awards 2010 | Nettv4u". nettv4u. Archived from the original on 30 December 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
- ^ "Winners of the IIFA Awards 2010". filmibeat.com. 7 June 2010. Archived from the original on 30 December 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
- ^ "IIFA Awards 2010 Nominations announced – bollywood news : glamsham.com". www.glamsham.com. Archived from the original on 20 January 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
- ^ "Mirchi Music Award 2009". www.radiomirchi.com. Archived from the original on 14 August 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
- ^ "Wake Up Sid Music Review by Joginder Tuteja". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 3 May 2009.
- ^ "Sid's music is easy, breezy and bubbly". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2009.