| 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 | Guest Composition and Background Score: Amit Trivedi Songs: Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy |
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 is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age comedy drama film written and directed by Ayan Mukerji and produced by Hiroo Yash Johar and Karan Johar under the production banner of Dharma Productions, with UTV Motion Pictures as distributor and visual effects contributed by the Prime Focus Group.[2] The film was released on 2 October 2009 on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti and stars Ranbir Kapoor, Konkona Sen Sharma, Supriya Pathak, Anupam Kher, Rahul Khanna and Kashmira Shah. Set in contemporary Mumbai, the film tells the story of a careless rich college brat, Sid (Kapoor), who is taught the value of owning up to responsibility by Aisha (Sharma), an aspiring writer from Kolkata. The film 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 performances of the cast.
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
Siddharth Mehra (Ranbir Kapoor), also known as Sid, is a gifted, talented, super-qualified, yet an extremely lazy and carefree university college student in his early twenties living in Mumbai. He hates college and he cannot even bother to study and try to understand the concept of his courses (all of which he receives poor grades in). His imagination, creativity and talent for art (especially photography) are often disregarded and ignored. Depicted as a spoiled, lazy slacker, Sid shows little concern for his plans after graduating, just barely studying for the final exams the night before and having no interest in working. His father, Ram Mehra (Anupam Kher), is a wealthy businessman who wishes for 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.
While writing his final exam in the exam hall, Sid struggles throughout the entire duration of the exam, nervously unsure of each question whereas all of his classmates including his close friends confidently progress through their exam 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 out on a shopping spree across the city for a day of fun. Sid takes his college finals then begins work at his father's business; he lasts less than a week before walking out.
At the college farewell party after the final exams, Sid meets Aisha (Konkona Sen Sharma), an aspiring writer recently moved away from her hometown of Kolkata, who happens to be one of his college friend's roommate. The two decide to go for a small walk and strike a chord instantly. With the help of Sid, Aisha is about to rent a small apartment overlooking the city skyline. She also lands a job at Mumbai Beat (based on Time Out! Mumbai), a hip magazine run by editor-in-chief Kabir Chaudhaty (Rahul Khanna), to whom Aisha is instantly attracted. Sid asks Aisha if she would like to progress from friend to something more, but she refuses by stating that he lacks ambition and is not her type.
When the final exam results come out a few weeks 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. Sid displaces his anger and frustration onto his friends and goes home to sulk. He then gets angry at his parents, ending with him hastily moving out after an extremely upset, livid blowout. Sid sets off to the apartment that he helped Aisha renovate. Aisha allows Sid to temporarily stay at her apartment, but finds him disorganized and careless with her home. One night, Aisha loses her temper and berates Sid for his inability to look after himself. The next morning, Sid confides in Aisha that he now realises his constant dependence on his father's wealth, a realisation that persuades him to seek work. Aisha helps him land a job as a photography intern - photography has been an interest of his since childhood - at Mumbai Beat.
The internship slowly motivates Sid to be more responsible, hardworking, and productive. He helps out with chores, an internal change visible to all around him. He even reconciles with his college friends when they meet again for the first time since their falling out. Sid eventually gets hired full-time at Mumbai Beat and receives his first paycheck. He immediately goes to visit his father for the first time in months to show him the paycheck and his father nostalgically asks Sid to return home. In the meantime, Aisha and Kabir begin dating, but Aisha quickly realises that, despite her initial attraction to him, they have very little in common. Aisha also dislikes Sid's closeness with the designing intern Tanya (Kainaz Motivala), which leads Aisha to develop feelings for Sid, and on the day Sid packs his belongings to move back in with his family, she is furious and heartbroken to hear that he is leaving. Confused and hurt, unaware that Aisha has fallen in love with him, Sid makes his departure.
Back at home, Sid keeps thinking about Aisha. He discovers that he has brought Aisha's shirt with his belongings. Sid wears her shirt and reminisces about her while Aisha at her home speaks to her parents as she feels lonely after Sid's departure. The next morning, Sid receives the latest issue of Mumbai Beat. He reads Aisha's column, an article describing her adjustment to life in Mumbai and her love for an unnamed person. Realising that the article is about her feelings for him, Sid rushes through the rain to meet her at the seafront where they walked the day they met. Sid expresses his love for her and the two embrace.
Cast
- Ranbir Kapoor as Siddharth Mehra (a.k.a. Sid)
- Konkona Sen Sharma as Aisha Banerjee
- Supriya Pathak as Sarita Mehra
- Anupam Kher as Ram Mehra
- Rahul Khanna as Kabir Chaudhary
- Kashmira Shah as Sonia Gill
- Shikha Talsania as Laxmi Advani
- Namit Das as Rishi Raheja
- Krutika Bolaki as Neha (Rishi's love interest)
- Rahul Pendkalkar as Sanju Bapat
- Sanat Sawant as Jay Mehra
- Shruti Bapna as Debbie
- Nitin Chatterjee as a restaurant waiter
- Kainaz Motivala as Tanya Lathia
- Mukesh Rawal as Mr. Lathia (Tanya's father and Ram Mehra's close friend)
- Atisha Naik as Sanju's mother
Production
Shooting
Wake 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
Theatrical release
Wake Up Sid released on 2 October 2009, coinciding with the Gandhi Jayanti extended weekend.
Television Rights
Wake 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
Wake Up Sid's DVD was published by UTV Home Video.
Game
UTV Indiagames also released a mobile video game based on the film.[4]
Reception
Box office
Wake Up Sid opened well in India and overseas markets. Its opening weekend gross was ₹215 million (US$2.7 million) of which the domestic gross was ₹170 million (US$2.1 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
Wake 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
On 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 movie.
Trivia
- Ranbir Kapoor was the original choice for the lead role. Director Ayan Mukerji wrote the film keeping him in his mind.
- Like Ranbir, Konkona Sen Sharma was the original choice for the role of Aisha Banerjee. In an interview to a TV channel, Ranbir said that Ayan had already thought about casting her in the film but he didn't tell that to him. However, after the narration of the script it was Ranbir himself who coincidentally recommended Konkona's name to Ayan mainly because she suited the character and no other actress from his generation could have played Aisha better than Konkona.
- Ayan Mukherji took around one-and-a-half year to write the story, script and screenplay of the film. He then narrated the script to Karan Johar who approved the script in one narration and decided to produce it.
- The song "Iktara" was not originally used in the soundtrack. Ranbir loved the song in the background and he wanted to use the song officially in some other film, if it is not used properly in the film. However, later the song was used in two different versions - Female and Male that were picturized on Konkona and Ranbir respectively.
Accolades
Soundtrack
The music was composed by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy with lyrics by Javed Akhtar. The soundtrack was released on 21 August 2009. 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.
| Wake Up Sid | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released | 21 August 2009 | |||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |||
| Length | 1:34:31 | |||
| Label | Sony Music Entertainment | |||
| Producer | Karan Johar | |||
| Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, Amit Trivedi chronology | ||||
| ||||
| No. | Title | Music | Artist(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Kya Karoon?" | Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy | Clinton Cerejo | 4:13 |
| 2. | "Wake Up Sid!" | Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy | Shankar Mahadevan | 3:51 |
| 3. | "Life Is Crazy" | Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy | Uday Benegal | 4:14 |
| 4. | "Iktara" | Amit Trivedi | Kavita Seth, Amitabh Bhattacharya | 4:13 |
| 5. | "Aaj Kal Zindagi" | Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy | Shankar Mahadevan | 4:13 |
| 6. | "Iktara" | Amit Trivedi | Tochi Raina, Amitabh Bhattacharya, Raman Mahadevan | 3:44 |
| 7. | "Wake Up Sid! (Club Mix)" | Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy | Shankar Mahadevan | 3:44 |
Reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Bollywood Hungama |   [23] |
| Rediff.com |  [24] |
The reactions towards the music were favorable. Chandrima Pal of Rediff gave the album 3.5 stars, stating, "the music sticks to the brief. It is hip, urban and bubbly, and unhurried. And thanks to Shankar Ehsaan Loy's musicianship, it is a slick, well-balanced production".[24] Joginder Tuteja (Bollywood Hungama) gave it 3.5 stars out of possible 5, suggesting that, "this may not really turn out to be the bestseller of the year but should certainly be a perfect fit for the narrative."[23]
References
- 1 2 "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". 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". 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.
- ↑ 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.
- 1 2 "Wake Up Sid Music Review by Joginder Tuteja". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 3 May 2009.
- 1 2 "Sid's music is easy, breezy and bubbly". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2009.
External links
- Official Trailer – Dharma Productions
- Wake Up Sid at IMDb
- Wake Up Sid at Rotten Tomatoes
- Wake Up Sid at Box Office Mojo