“Wake Up Sid!’ Review by Nauman Hannani – Singapore (nauman.hannani@gmail.com)
Watching last 20 movies released in recent months, “Wake Up Sid!’ is really a fresh air and bring back some of your confidence on Bollywood movies. Debutante Director, Ayan Mukerji deserves congratulation, firstly on his simple script and then converting his script into the movie with great sincerity and simplicity.
Let identify the key factors, which make “Wake Up Sid!’ very mesmerizing and different then typical Bollywood Masala.
- Script - Mukerji as writer, convert a simple story into a script which make you sit on your chair, definitely in the first half and mostly in the 2nd half. Indeed, the script and its execution gives you a chance to think yourself and draw your own conclusions, which is often not common in Bollywood Movies
- Direction of Ayan Mukherji - this film shows a rare harmony between the script and direction, probably because it has been done by the same person but all go to the viewer’s benefits. A good direction is partly about to understand the script and portrait it in more meaningful & convincing way than the writer himself and Mukherji has done it. He delivers emotional and humour moments with equal ease and perfect integration. Mukerji kept the things SIMPLE, never tried to overdo any scene or situation or dialogue or locations or sets, while overdoing is a typical problem in most of the Bollywood Movies. Hopefully, we will see more good work from him in the future.
- Konkona Sen Sharma and Ranbir Kapoor outstanding performances - their commitment to respective character, consistency, believing on their expression together with their body language and natural changes in their attitude in the film with the development of the script are among the key factors for their great success.
- Anil Mehta's photography - he is simple and matching the overall concept but he shows Mumbai, which I have never seen before - great job
- Ayan Mukherji’s treatment to the scenes with help of Anil Mehta’s photography to hold the camera close to the characters, knowing that the actors are giving their best performances, are the key factors for the excellent sequences, which often mesmerized the viewers and forced you to cry & laugh.
- Selection of the cast- appropriate faces/presentation is probably the most effective part of the movie. Konkona Sen Sharma’s matured looks with limited face beauty, Ranbir Kapoor’s youth with great body language and rig sack, Anupam Kher’s sadness even after his materialistic success, Supriya Pathak’s “Mumta†with traditional clothing and broken English, Shikha Talsania overweight appearance and great chemistry as Ranbir’s friend and Namit Das middle class looks as best friend of Ranbir - all are the gripping messages to the viewers.
However, film has curtain areas which can be improved such as
- Slow pace in 2nd half and abrupt End without convincing situation.
- Music [Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy] is melodious but scattered and feels repetitive on few occasions. It can definitely create more impact if it was integrated more thoughtfully with proper backup.
- Lack of sensuality in Konkona and Ranbir body language during the last scene. Unfortunately, heroes and heroines still hug each other like sister and brother in Bollywood Movies. This will be a minor red mark on Konkona’s and Ranbir’s acting.
On the whole, WAKE UP SID is a well-made film with freshness and youthfulness. It certainly does not have flows which are, unfortunately, still common in Bollywood