Wake Up Sid! Movie and OST review
Wake Up Sid! Movie and OST review
By Jellyman
Movie rating – 5/5
So
undtrack – 5/5
I’m not a fan of Bollywood movies, for some reason I find them to be way too artificial. Cutting a movie in the middle to place a dance-song number just kills it for me; it just takes away all relevance of the movie at the end of the day.
I used to wonder why movies can’t be made in India (or Pakistan for that matter), where the soundtrack is independent of the movie in terms of dance numbers and then finally I started seeing some movies with that very element in them from across the boarder such as Taray Zameen Par, A Wednesday and from Pakistan with Khuda Kay Liye.
And then just recently WAKE UP SID! Surprisingly enough I find these movies to be more relevant to this day and age than the ones with all the dancing and singing.
Take Wake Up Sid (WUS) for example, a story about a well of guy (early twenties) who’s still trying to figure his life out in a modern society outlook represented by the life and style of Mumbai’s typical urban family. Having grown up with a silver spoon in his mouth and getting practically anything he wants, Sid (Sidhart Mehra) is still a reflection of an everyday teenager who’s trying to find his way around the world and of course his/her purpose and calling.
This is a movie that is driven by three things in totality – Firstly, exceptional acting and direction, kudos to Ayan Mukherjee for directing a reality in the form of a drama and of course Niranjan Iyengar for putting the words exactly the way we imagine them to be through the movie dialogues.
The characters no matter how insignificant in terms of their air time, had a remarkable roll to play in making the movie entertaining from start to end. Take for instance the next door neighbor Sonia (played by Karishma Shah – WOW comes to mind) or even the other mother-son roll in the apartment complex played by Shruti Bapna and the adorable Rahul Pendkalkar.
Then, there was the relevance in the storyline; again by Ayan Mukherjee. Telling the story of an everyday teenager isn’t easy, but WUS does it with sheer perfection.
And to top it all off, you’ve got a remarkable soundtrack to make sense of the mood throughout the film, without really hindering the moments. From the get go, the movie soundtrack captures your imagination and makes you live like the characters, think like them and from time to time look at your friends (who’ve come to watch the movie with you) and suggest characters from your everyday life that are reflective of those from the movie. Each and every emotion is captured through the songs without you even realizing you’ve been hit with a sense of creative genius!
With only six total tracks on the album (this includes a remix of the ‘Wake Up Sid!’ self titled track) you will feel there was no need for anything more. These six songs do wonders to the overall effect they have in the movie. Javed Akhtar no matter how old, still has a pulse on the relevant younger generation. His lyrics summarize the story and the moments throughout.
From the track ‘Wake Up Sid’ that opens the movie and gives a glimpse into the thought process of the main character to ‘Kya Karoon’ that gets you pondering over all that’s happened in your life and whether you’ve listened to your heart or your head to the ever relevant ‘Aaj Kal Zindagi’ that opens up your mind to thinking out of the box and then to you perhaps shedding a tear if not more on the heart warming ‘Iktara’ where the matters of the heart are brought to life through the words of Javed Akhtar and the melody of Amit Trivedi and the voices of Kavita Seth, Amitabh Bhattacharya. And then of course there’s the track titled ‘Life is crazy’ which just tops it all off to provide you with a total track listening time of close to 25minutes of absolutely unadulterated musical bliss! This last track summarizes the young generation’s hopes and dreams – perhaps for some it is a culmination of what they feel defines their life in this present day and age.
Two reasons you should watch this movie – one to get a look at how your teenage life is (or was for those my age) and then to see how a movie can be made with an exceptional soundtrack and yet not have it dominate the storyline but offer relevance where and when required.
Wake Up Sid is definitely in a league of its own and maybe when I have more time, I’ll talk you through the importance of Sid’s wardrobe, Which by the way has already been auctioned out to help with old people in India… sheer brilliance!
By Jellyman
Movie rating – 5/5
So
undtrack – 5/5I’m not a fan of Bollywood movies, for some reason I find them to be way too artificial. Cutting a movie in the middle to place a dance-song number just kills it for me; it just takes away all relevance of the movie at the end of the day.
I used to wonder why movies can’t be made in India (or Pakistan for that matter), where the soundtrack is independent of the movie in terms of dance numbers and then finally I started seeing some movies with that very element in them from across the boarder such as Taray Zameen Par, A Wednesday and from Pakistan with Khuda Kay Liye.
And then just recently WAKE UP SID! Surprisingly enough I find these movies to be more relevant to this day and age than the ones with all the dancing and singing.
Take Wake Up Sid (WUS) for example, a story about a well of guy (early twenties) who’s still trying to figure his life out in a modern society outlook represented by the life and style of Mumbai’s typical urban family. Having grown up with a silver spoon in his mouth and getting practically anything he wants, Sid (Sidhart Mehra) is still a reflection of an everyday teenager who’s trying to find his way around the world and of course his/her purpose and calling.
This is a movie that is driven by three things in totality – Firstly, exceptional acting and direction, kudos to Ayan Mukherjee for directing a reality in the form of a drama and of course Niranjan Iyengar for putting the words exactly the way we imagine them to be through the movie dialogues.
The characters no matter how insignificant in terms of their air time, had a remarkable roll to play in making the movie entertaining from start to end. Take for instance the next door neighbor Sonia (played by Karishma Shah – WOW comes to mind) or even the other mother-son roll in the apartment complex played by Shruti Bapna and the adorable Rahul Pendkalkar.
Then, there was the relevance in the storyline; again by Ayan Mukherjee. Telling the story of an everyday teenager isn’t easy, but WUS does it with sheer perfection.
And to top it all off, you’ve got a remarkable soundtrack to make sense of the mood throughout the film, without really hindering the moments. From the get go, the movie soundtrack captures your imagination and makes you live like the characters, think like them and from time to time look at your friends (who’ve come to watch the movie with you) and suggest characters from your everyday life that are reflective of those from the movie. Each and every emotion is captured through the songs without you even realizing you’ve been hit with a sense of creative genius!
With only six total tracks on the album (this includes a remix of the ‘Wake Up Sid!’ self titled track) you will feel there was no need for anything more. These six songs do wonders to the overall effect they have in the movie. Javed Akhtar no matter how old, still has a pulse on the relevant younger generation. His lyrics summarize the story and the moments throughout.
From the track ‘Wake Up Sid’ that opens the movie and gives a glimpse into the thought process of the main character to ‘Kya Karoon’ that gets you pondering over all that’s happened in your life and whether you’ve listened to your heart or your head to the ever relevant ‘Aaj Kal Zindagi’ that opens up your mind to thinking out of the box and then to you perhaps shedding a tear if not more on the heart warming ‘Iktara’ where the matters of the heart are brought to life through the words of Javed Akhtar and the melody of Amit Trivedi and the voices of Kavita Seth, Amitabh Bhattacharya. And then of course there’s the track titled ‘Life is crazy’ which just tops it all off to provide you with a total track listening time of close to 25minutes of absolutely unadulterated musical bliss! This last track summarizes the young generation’s hopes and dreams – perhaps for some it is a culmination of what they feel defines their life in this present day and age.
Two reasons you should watch this movie – one to get a look at how your teenage life is (or was for those my age) and then to see how a movie can be made with an exceptional soundtrack and yet not have it dominate the storyline but offer relevance where and when required.
Wake Up Sid is definitely in a league of its own and maybe when I have more time, I’ll talk you through the importance of Sid’s wardrobe, Which by the way has already been auctioned out to help with old people in India… sheer brilliance!
I want some of those shirts he wore in the movie
ReplyDeleteIkTara - I discovered this song in a shop sometime back, and it found its way in my ipod yesterday. It's one of those songs that only come once in a while and stick with you for a good time and end up becoming soundtrack of a specific time of your life.
ReplyDeleteAs an aside, it's a total Sheraz Opal (Uppal) sound.
Asad I couldn't have agreed with you more. This was truly the most outstanding pieces out of the entire OST and I personally loved it myself.
ReplyDelete