Wake Up Sid is a 2009 Indian romantic comedy-drama film.^[4] It is directed by Ayan Mukerji, produced by Karan Johar's Dharma Productions, distributed by UTV Motion Pictures, and has visual effects by the Prime Focus Group.^[5] The film takes place in contemporary Bombay and tells the story of spoiled, careless rich-kid Sid Mehra (Ranbir Kapoor), a college student who is taught the meaning of life by Aisha (Konkona Sen Sharma), an aspiring writer from Calcutta. The film was critically and commercially successfully. Ranbir Kapoor has won filmfare awards for his performance in this film.

Plot[link]

Siddharth "Sid" Mehra (Ranbir Kapoor) is the spoiled, carefree son of wealthy businessman Ram Mehra (Anupam Kher). A resident of Mumbai, his only interest is to have fun and spend his father's money. Thus, he spends little time at college and is not prepared for the exit exams. His father, not being aware of this fact, tells Sid it is time to join his company, which Sid reluctantly does only after his father tempts him with the promise of a new car.

Sid meets Aisha (Konkona Sen Sharma) a woman who is an aspiring writer. On their first meeting, they go out on a walk along the streets of Bombay. Sid shows her the city and takes her by the sea. They strike a chord instantly and a friendship ensues. Sid helps her to find and furnish her own apartment. She also lands a job with Mumbai Beat, (based on Time Out! Mumbai)[1] a hip magazine run by the handsome editor-in-chief Kabir (Rahul Khanna). On the eve of her 27th birthday, Aisha invites Sid to her place. When Sid tentatively explores moving their relationship beyond friendship, he finds that Aisha perceives him as boyish and immature. Despite feeling hurt, he maintains his friendship with her.

When the exam results come out, Sid finds that he failed. His failure leads to an intense family fight that ends with him moving out. With nowhere to go, Sid (who has never been on his own) asks Aisha if he can stay with her. Aisha is initially happy to have the company. Eventually, Sid's bad habits revive themselves, as he leaves her place a mess and makes the kind of demands on her that he is used to making on everyone. When she finds he has not eaten all day, Aisha is amused by the fact that Sid cannot cook and does not know how to feed himself. Over time, Sid learns that to care for himself, he has to begin cooking and cleaning. He also realizes he must work, and Aisha helps him become a photography intern at the magazine she works for.

Aisha is ecstatic when Kabir selects her article for the magazine and also asks her on a date. However, she realizes she does not have much in common with Kabir. She then understands that she is in love with Sid. As Sid begins working, he finds meaning in life. He begins to see for the first time how his behavior has hurt his loved ones, and that he needs to change his ways. After he is hired as full-time staff and receives his first paycheck, he confronts his father. They reconcile and Sid's father asks him to come home. Sid, who often feels a burden to Aisha, tells her that he won't be dependent on her charity anymore and expects her to be thrilled. He doesn't realize that Aisha has fallen in love with him and thus is furious to hear that he is leaving. Their departure is a hostile one.

When Sid returns home, he thinks constantly of Aisha, though he does not consider that she might share his feelings, since she told him they can only be friends. When the latest issue of Mumbai Beat arrives, Sid reads Aisha's column and is startled to discover that it is about her feelings for him. As rain starts pouring, he rushes to meet her at the same beach where they had gone the very first day they met. Sid expresses his love for her and the two embrace.

Cast[link]

• Ranbir Kapoor as Siddharth "Sid" Mehra, a spoiled and self-centered college student from Mumbai. According to Ranbir, of all the films that he has done so far, Sid was the toughest character to play. He adds that it might be difficult to believe but he is not at all like Sid in real life.^[6]
• Konkona Sen Sharma as Aisha Banerjee
• Rahul Khanna as Kabir Chaudhary
• Anupam Kher as Ram Mehra
• Shikha Talsania as Laxmi
• Supriya Pathak as Sarita
• Namit Das as Rishi
• Kashmira Shah as Sonia
• Rahul Pendkalkar
• Shruti Bapna
• Kainaz Motivala as Tanya Lathia
• Natasha Rathod

Release[link]

Box office[link]

Wake Up Sid opened well both in India and overseas markets.^[7][8] Its opening weekend gross was Rs 215 million (Rs 21.5 crore) of which the India gross stood at Rs 170 million (Rs 17 crore).^[9] It was number one in the box office during its first and second weeks,^[10][11] number four during its third week,^[12] and number three during its fourth week.^[13]

In the United Kingdom, the film collected $165,934, while in the US, the collections stand at $717,977.^[14] 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.^[15] After grossing about Rs. 42.75 crore, the film was declared a Hit.

Critical reception[link]

Wake Up Sid was well received by a number of critics. Subhash K. Jha (film critic and author of The Essential Guide to Bollywood) gave Wake Up Sid a rave review stating that it is, "a triumph on many levels. It takes the protagonist's predictable but yet kinetic voyage into self-realization to a level where the languorous plot exudes a beam of light that cuts right across the radiant narrative [...] The most obtainable component of young Ayan Mukherjee's artless narrative is the remarkable rhythms of the ordinary and the unostentatious in the narrative. All the relationships in the plot are potentially predictable and cliched. Ayan takes the age-old dramatic conflicts of our commercial cinema into quiet supremely understated corridors."^[16] Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave the film three out of five stars, stating that Wake Up Sid, "has its heart in the right place and it 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."^[17] Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the film four out of five stars as well as a "thumbs up" stating that it is "strongly recommended."^[16]

Mayank Shekhar of the Hindustan Times gave it 3.5 out of four stars and states, "Wake Up Sid belongs to a sweet genre that, without doubt, flows on from Farhan Akhtar's Dil Chahta Hai: part Hollywood; part Bollywood; mostly coming-of-age; subtly romantic; largely original; authentic in feel; light in weight; English in expression; Hindi in language."^[18] Avijit Ghosh of The Times of India gave it three and half out of four 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."^[19] Noyon Jyoti Parasara of AOL India gave it three and half out of five 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."^[20]

Joginder Tuteja of the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) calls the film "flawless" and gave it three and a half stars. He states: "There are five 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."^[21] 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."^[4]

Controversy[link]

On 2 October, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena supporters used protests to halt the screening of Wake Up Sid at some cinema halls in Mumbai and in Pune. The MNS objected the use of the word "Bombay" instead of "Mumbai" in the movie.^[22]

Awards[link]

2010: Filmfare Awards

• Won: Best Debutante Director (Male) - Ayan Mukherjee
• Won:Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor - Ranbir Kapoor
• Won:Best Female Playback - Kavita Seth for "Iktara" ^[23]

Soundtrack[link]

The soundtrack has music composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy with lyrics by Javed Akhtar. The music was released on 21 August 2009. One song in the film has been composed by Amit Trivedi who scored the background music for the film.

Reception[link]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Bollywood Hungama	[24]
Rediff.com	[25]

The reactions towards the music were favorable. Chandrima Pal of Rediff gave the album a 3.5 stars, stating that, "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".^[25] Joginder Tuteja (Bollywood Hungama) gave it 3 stars out of possible 5, suggesting that, "this may not really turn out to be the best seller of the year but should certainly be a perfect fit for the narrative."^[24]

Sequel[link]

Rishi Kapoor and Ranbir Kapoor confirmed the possibility of a sequel to the film.^[26]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website^{[dead link]}
• Official trailer
• Wake Up Sid at the Internet Movie Database
• Wake Up Sid at Box Office Mojo