Wake Up, Sid! : A Review

-Shekh Ahmed Niroz 

The story revolves around Siddharth(Sid) Malhotra played with awe-striking brilliance by Ranbir Kapoor, who is a card-swapping, boxer wearing, comic-book reading spoiled son of a wealthy businessman. Sid is an immature slacker who spends most of his time flunking classes and partying hard with friends. Sid is a character who is relevant, who is present in every friend group. He meets Aisha, a polar opposite more mature girl who is new in town, trying to land a job to feed her responsible self. Soon Sid is kicked out of his house because of his shenanigans. He turns to the doorstep of Aisha, who takes Sid in and lands him a job where the transition of Sid from an unserious student to a self-cooking, hardworking responsible Sid takes place.

The beautiful thing about this movie is that Director Ayan Mukherji understands the struggle of a young-adult; thus he crafts a film with muted drama, and no Bollywood-ish flamboyance. This is the story where the lead actors do not fall in love within minutes into the film even though they are living together. This is a coming-of-age narration where the boy is wholeheartedly trying to make his parents proud without bloated melodrama.

This film has gained quite a social impact even after years of its release. The portrayal of Konkona Sen Sharma as Aisha is women empowerment at its finest. There were no scenes in the movie that showcased the lady is working in a male dominant society, but it was shown very beautifully that she is a force to be reckoned with. Her passion for providing for herself is enough to understand what women power is.

Modernization, cultural change and the constant change of values play a pivotal role in the narration as well. The cinema suggests that with modernization, cultural changes, too, take place, which reshape ethical/socio-economic values among the youngsters, thus resulting in a change of ethos as well. Youngsters adopt to change in values which essentially hold the power to reshape a society, any society in fact. Reshaping, here, does not necessarily mean that the previous values are completely lost or cultural values are all gone for good. For example, Sid does not blame his parents for kicking him out; all he tries to do is bounce back and land on his feet. He is not agonizing in pain like a wounded tiger, rather a working bee trying to build his own solid ground. No angry young man testosterone for our hero is here, which makes the protagonist more relevant and humanlike.

We all have a Sid inside us, a confused young-to-be-adult who is convoluted, at times escapist. But maybe some of us are running in a different race altogether. Some of us have difficulties finding the right course, the right pace. And that Sid, that bewildered young adult should be awakened, not stirred and this movie celebrates just that in the most beautiful of ways possible.