Wake up to Good Cinema!. Review on Wake Up Sid

I am usually inspired to write a movie review either because it was SO mind numbingly horrible that I want to trash it as much as I can, or because I am utterly moved by a movie. Fortunately for "Wake Up Sid, " it is the latter! I cannot say it is the greatest movie I have ever seen. But I can say it is very pleasant and subtley moving. In addiiton to being extremely watchable and pleasant, it perhaps, unknowingly, breaks many stereotypes of Bollywood movies.

The story is extremely simple and short. Sid(Ranbir) is in his early 20's and a recent graduate. He is the son of a very rich and hardworking father(, who has apparently built India's shower head empire!) Anupam Kher and the very sweet, born to play a mom, Supriya Pathak. Sid has no idea of any form of responsibility. He spends his dad's money, (clearly on ipods, music, video games, cameras, alcohol, Pizza, and a collection of Sponge Bob T-shirts made for a 12 year old boy). He has zero interest in studying, and even less interest in joining Dad's shower head business! Sid lives life like a spoiled pre-teen boy. Bollywood Stereotype #1 has been broken. Our spoiled hero is not a muscle bound, waxed chest, alcoholic or arrogant player or casanova who takes his shirt off at any occasion and is always looking for some bedroom action! He is just a harmless, immature guy who doesn't realize the value of work, money, or independence. Sid is a nice guy,

Sid meets Aisha(Konkana Sen), a woman who is a few years older than him at a party. Opposite of him, she has moved to Mumbai to become independent, work for herself, make her own money, and really establish her identity outside of her family/friends. These two form a very sweet friendship, where she thinks he is WAY too immature and he constantly tries to prove that he is not. He brings out her child-like side, while she encourages him to bring about his mature side. Sid, after failing college and facing his dad's wrath, leaves his house in anger and crashes at Konkana Sen's place. Stereotype #2 is broken. There is no emphasis placed on the fact that Aisha is older than Sid. Stereotype #3 is broken. Sid lives with Aisha completely as a friend, with no element of sexual tension, and NO ONE gives a lecture on how a Bhartiye Nari should not be living with a man she is not married to! Nor are there accidental scenes of Sid walking in on Aisha in the shower to create that perverse level of discomfort and tittilation!

Without telling you the complete story, Sid slowly realizes the value of what he had. He works hard on his one passion, photography and ends up getting a job as a photographer's assistant in a very popular Mumbai magazine. Stereotype #4 is broken. Our dashing hero Sid does not suddenly get promoted to the editor of the magazine because he is oh.so dashing and handsome and the hero! HE simply gets promoted from intern to assistant, but is very proud of his achievement. He learns how to fend for himself, and finds his passion!

Stereotype #5 is broken. Sid doesn't suddenly realize that it is his manly duty to take over his father's shower head empire because he is an only son and has that responsibility! There are no dramatic "Maa! Mujhe AAJ Samajh Ayi hai!" dialogues. Sid, instead of joining his father's business, FINDS HIS OWN PASSION! He does something HE loves and that is why he succeeds. Work is not only about duty. It is about finding a passion! And his Dad actually GETS that!

Stereotype #6 is broken. There are no weddings at the end with shenai, band baajaa, and choreographed bhangra. The movie simply ends with Sid and Aisha realizing that they love each other and bring out the BEST in each other.

Kudos to Ranbir for playing the nice, kiddish, adorable, spoilt, and very naive Sid! He has stepped out of the cheesy hindi hero persona. Kudos to Konkana, because she has done what she always done; played a journalist and intellectual convincingly. Kudos to Supriya Pathak for conveying a mother still trying to be in touch with her son, not by Saas Bahu TV Serial guilt and dramatic dialogues and heart attacks, but by trying to learn English so she is "cooler" to her son. Every actor in this movie played his part VERY naturally! And finally, kudos to Karan for not giving any unnecessary lectures about Hindustani log, Hindustan/Pakistan barriers, worshipping your parents, or women's lib while showing scantily dressed item queens, or strip tease songs.

Here is a lovely film which brings back memories, makes us laugh in parts, think in parts, feel in parts, and more than anything, reflect a little bit on ourselves! I will also add that there is no choreography in Venice and London locations. The songs are all played beautifully in the background with GASP.NO LIP SYNCING! "Rock On" was the last Bollywood movie I felt had some substance. Finally, another film does almost as well, not as well as "Rock On" maybe, bt getting there! Wake Up Sid is a wakeup call on lovely cinema and more intelligent audiences!