Its 5th October. Monday Morning. Rush hour. And as usual I am stuck in a traffic jam. Its raining heavily. Like the rains of July & August. I am peeping out of the window into the rain and can’t help myself thinking about Sid and Aisha – lead pair of Wake Up S!D enjoying the first showers of Mumbai exactly the same way.
Wake Up S!D is a very refreshing movie - one that I really enjoyed watching just the previous day. Well …. Sid is Sid (Siddharth Mehra) a lazy, unmotivated college goer from Mumbai; yet sweet, funny, honest and a good friend. Sid lives a life sans responsibilities. Fate crosses his path with Aisha on her first day in the city - a wannabe writer, who has decided to move to Mumbai to realise her dreams, to be independent and free.
As luck would have it, Sid moves in with Aisha in her flat (that he has helped her to convert in her home) after a tiff with his dad. Soon life compels Sid to take stock of the things. Wake Up Sid is the story of coming of age of Sid. Full marks to director Ayan Mukherjee who is in his 20s himself. He has handled the story with great maturity. The story maintains a consistent pace – neither slacking nor running too fast. The relationship between Sid and Aisha is handled in a subtle way. The rubbing of Aisha on Sid happens very naturally – from his efforts to preparing eggs to his realisation that he loves photography to his finally earning his first pay cheque. The film is also as much about Mumbai as it is about Sid and Aisha. The city is always there in the background as a silhouetted character against the backdrop of which the events occur. The movie speaks about the city with great love. As a viewer you can always connect yourself to the city – its freedom, independence, rush, youth, vitality, passion and also with the characters, be it Sid – struggling with his accountancy book on the night of exam or even Aisha’s roommate – hardworking, deserving yet unlucky.
The performance by all the lead characters is almost perfect. Ranbir is superb as Sid and Konkana gives full justice to Aisha as we have been made to expect from her.
The music is refreshing and catches the romance between Sid and Aisha seamlessly - "Iktara" and "Life is Crazy" being my favorites of the lot. Also the unsung hero of the movie is background score by Amit Trivedi (Dev D). It blends perfectly with the mood of the story and takes the story forward.
Go watch it.
