It isn’t hard to guess the story of a movie titled Wake up Sid. The title, a figurative way of asking Sid to grow up, tells half of the story but in doing so it doesn’t take away the fun from watching the movie; rather as one must have got the drift by now the title alludes to the predictability pervading the movie from start till end.
But here’s the catch – the movie does manage to do justice to the theme alright. The movie harks back to a similar take on the subject some years ago when Hrithik stood undecided and confused in a movie called Lakshay. What Lakshay had set out to achieve and had failed miserably has been captured pretty much the right way as it should have been in the Hrithik starrer too. Whereas Lakshay couldn’t decide whether it was a war movie or a love story or even coming of age story of a boy, something it all the time intended to do, Wake up Sid, on the other hand, sticks to the concept and conveys the same through a simple and straight forward story.
Sid, played by Ranbir Kapoor, is a drifter in life and is yet to wake up to his responsibilities. A college going guy who loves cars, video games, partying, hanging out with friends, and surprisingly has a very arid love life, Sid thrives on his father’s money and intends to continue on the same note. A chance encounter with Aisha, played by Konkana, and a tumultuous final year performance set the tone for the rest of the movie.
Notable performances include that of Ranbir and Konkana, of course, but a special mention of Supriya Pathak who plays the role of Sid’s doting mother also deserves space. The subtle cameo of Supriya in the movie easily underlines the pampered upbringing Sid might have had and beautifully fits in the entire picture.
The movie, however, dilly-dallies with the sexual chemistry between Aisha and Sid and seems to have met a crossroad where it is sometimes tempted to bring it up in the form of a discussion between Aisha and her neighbour or strangulates it by Aisha’s over-emphasizing demand to keep the relation platonic.
At the end it is a simple and predictable movie and within its own set of limitations has achieved what it had set out to.
