Wake Up Sid – Not Another Spoilt-Richie-Rich-Movie! & Inglourious Basterds
Oh God, not again, I said. I don’t wanna watch any more films about super rich spoilt kids who unfortunately have no employment other than the extremely taxing job of spending their dad’s accumulated wealth. All the posters and trailers seemed to indicate exactly that. To top it all, it was a production from Karan Johar, whose previous films included an English castle located a short drive away from Chandni Chowk.
I don’t normally read reviews before watching a film. But Wake Up Sid received praise from people whose opinion I usually respect. I still wasn’t convinced though, so I did read a couple of reviews, and the story seemed to be exactly as I expected. A spoilt rich kid learns about life and love. Well, what could be new about this theme? Dil Chahta Hai, Laqshya and quite a few other films have already trodded that path quite well.
So I watched it myself, expecting to dislike it, and that there must have been a collective softening of heads on the part of the people who I wouldn’t have expected to like it, but did.
Boy was I wrong! After a little bit of initial irritation and grudging acknowledgement, I couldn’t help but fall in love with the movie. I look back and see that the last Hindi movie I loved enough to write a post on was Barah Aana, way back in March.
The theme of the movie is exactly as advertised in the promos, no mistake there. What makes Wake Up Sid a winner is its marvelous treatment. There’s a level of realism and effortlessness that one rarely sees in Hindi cinema. There’s a completely natural flow to the proceedings, an ease that doesn’t come from just being able to formulate a couple of smart plot points. When I say the film is realistic, I think that would be best exemplified by the confrontation scene between Sid and his dad, Mr Anupam Kher, who has played one of the best, truest dads ever. That angry exchange of words, in my view, is exactly how those characters would behave if they were actual people in that situation. It was very, very real, with barely a filmy flourish in sight. And no, I’m not speaking from personal experience, because my dad’s never shouted at me. On the contrary, some of my dad’s eccentricities would seem totally unreal if I put them in a movie.
Supriya Pathak – oh what a great character and what a great performance! She was like a combination of a couple of my aunties – one of who is barely literate but is extremely loving and caring, and the other regrets not studying in an English medium school, so she regularly reads Rapidex English Speaking Course! When the scene where Ma visits Konkona’s room came on, I thought, aha, let’s see what happens in this scene. Full marks to Ayan Mukherji – that, I felt, was exactly how things would play out in real life! Again, I’m countering myself – human behaviour has endless possibilities, but that scene was just so right and so natural for Wake Up Sid.
A huge amount of credit needs to be given to the art department for the tremendous attention to detail. An example being the editorial in Mumbai Beat, titled ‘Deliver us from the heat, o Lord,’ or something similar. I also smiled at the Amul Taaza in Konkona’s fridge. Ditto for her collection of books. Ranbir’s look when he saw them was priceless. (“People actually read these?”)
Actually, the whole movie is all about attention to detail in every department. Aagey Se Right was a recent movie which I felt was sorely disappointing compared what it must’ve looked like on paper (Maan Gaye Mughal-e-Azam was much funnier). Wake Up Sid is the reverse. Superb acting and direction take it to another level altogether.
Wake Up Sid has also been a splendid lesson in the use of music. I listen to very few film soundtracks, and since I don’t watch TV, I have no idea about the songs that are going to come up in a film – it helps me be a bit more objective about the timing and the merits of a song. Wake Up Sid joins Love Aaj Kal and Kaminey among my favourite film albums of the year.
Now for the background score. Ah, lovely! Bliss! Amit Trivedi is a genius! Offhand, the last time I remember being so moved by a background score was the moment in Dil Chahta Hai when the Sid there, Akshaye Khanna, ran home to bring his painting stuff. The background music in WUS comes in at all the right moments and hits all the right notes.
One thing that really gets my goat in Indian films is that heroes and heroines are besura when it suits them, and exceptionally sureela when the time comes for a song. Case in point: Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na. Our hero there beautifully keeps singing songs throughout the film, then at the airport climax, suddenly becomes a besura dhol. WUS really scores here. It would’ve been very easy to let the hero and heroine lip-sync, but we’re shown that they’re both besura, and hence Ayan Mukherji very very correctly refrains from having them suddenly acquire the voices and melodiousness of KK and Sunidhi Chauhan. For me, this added another layer of realism to the film.
The story of Wake Up Sid is thoroughly predictable. No surprise there. What surprised me was that I enjoyed it so much in spite of that. Some films are devised and structured very cleverly to trigger the right emotions and feelings in the audience. Not so with WUS. It doesn’t feel ‘devised’. Like the brilliant Oye Lucky Lucky Oye, Wake Up Sid unfolds in such a natural, unforced flow that I’m left asking how the hell Ayan Mukherji did it.
Good cinema comes from creating magic moments. The ability to create magic on screen is what separates the great directors from the hacks and DVD xerox machines. WUS has quite a few beautiful moments, moments which cannot be created from formulas found in certain screenwriting books. Ha ha. Which brings me to:
Inglourious Basterds
I watched Inglourious Basterds first day first show, then I watched it again yesterday. I’m not a big fan of the gore in Tarantino flicks, but I am a huge fan of his mastery of dialog and his ability to construct a scene. And I’m always interested in movies that break the ‘rules’ of screenwriting.
Great scenes make for great films. And the first scene of Inglourious Basterds is definitely a killer. I counted the number of sequences. 15 or 16. Roughly 22-24 if one counts the separate sequences in the climax. There were practically no transitional scenes. Everything was stripped down to the bare essentials, or rather, straight down to the meat. No showing how Lt Archie Hicox lands in Nadine and contacts the Basterds, for example.
Voiceovers mean your screenplay is weak, say some. Well, twice, smack in the middle of a scene, Tarantino throws in a Discovery-channel style voiceover. For even more outrageous use of voiceover, I would recommend Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, written by Shane Black, and starring Robert Downey Jr and Val Kilmer.
Likewise, I also feel that the scrawled labels for Martin Bormann and Hermann Goering worked for the movie.
Col Hans Landa is going down in history as one of the best movie villains, but then I’m only stating the obvious here. Christoph Waltz looks all set for an Oscar nomination next year.
Brad Pitt’s Aldo Raine has a long scar around his neck as if someone had tried to behead him. That scar is never referred to, forget about explained, but how’s that for backstory, without even being mentioned.
I feel, however, that the setup of the Basterds was much bigger than the payoff. I really, really think that there should’ve been at least one sequence of the Basterds in action, especially with two German-born blokes among them. We only get to hear of their ambushes and guerilla tactics, but never get to see them in action. I sorely missed this.
I’ve seen three Hitlers in the last couple of months, Valkyrie and Die Untergang (Downfall) being the other two. Bruno Ganz in Downfall gives one the all-time great performances I have seen.
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
No compulsion but few things are straightened here: http://blessed-curse.blogspot.com/2009/10/wake-up-sid.html
Wake Up Sid has triggered so many thoughts inside that they refuse to leave me. What is heartening is different people have taken different things from the movie which is so rare nowadays!
Christoph Waltz spoke four languages fluently on top of personifying the human fox…
i saw this movie on tuesday ,i wanted to catch it on the first day but was down with fever but on tuesday even then down with fever couldnt stop myself from watching it.once in an interview tarantino said he is a world director not an american director like ron howard.now when u see this movie you clearly understand why he said that.80% of the movie is in french ,german language still you dont feel you are just reading the subtitles.its really awsome and for some its the talkiest tarantino movie ever made.bt thats what makes him special his dialogues.and i dont need to mention the performance of the actors we all know it its brilliant.i have read the screenplay much before it was released and he wrote everything on paper thet he wanted to show.believe it or not for tarantino fans its really a masterpiece
I guess Christoph Waltz is gonna walk away with the Academy Award for the Best Supporting Actor this time indeed!!!
Kya boltha Sethu??
Nice read Kenny….
Merit isn’t the only consideration for the Oscars. There are several other factors that come into play. Consider these two HUGE Oscar blunders for best actress:
Ellen Burstyn (Requiem for a Dream) lost to Julia Roberts (Erin Brockovich)
Felicity Huffman (Transamerica) lost to Reese Witherspoon (Walk The Line)
Ellen Burstyn and Felicity Huffman gave performances for the ages in these two films. What on earth was so taxing about playing Erin Brockovich or June Carter Cash, purely from an acting point of view?
Completely agree bro, but still have faith in the Academy for getting things right at most times.
I guess thats why the Academy is THE Academy, love it or hate it….you know it makes a difference….not just for an argument
That’s true. They do get most things right. Unlike, to quote Mr Naseeruddin Shah, our paan masala and talcum powder awards
ROFL….’paan masala and talcum powder awards’ and to be more specific sponsored by the companies which maufacture these products…..
Well generally the Academy has a soft corner for biopics, and if ur playing the lead role in them, u are in for an Oscar.
I honestly feel that Joaquin Phoenix deserved the award more than Ms.Witherspoon for Walk the Line.
Yes, there has always been the argument regarding biopics and that’s more relevant as they are made on Americans and basically the Academy belongs to America.
However, I see a tidal change now, for instance the addition of people behind the jury, the nominations and not to forget the inclusion of more and more foriegn films/actors/technicians in the Academy arena. I would say, its becoming more ‘global’. But, the fact is it’s dominated by Mr.Sam.
just when I was thinking tht no one would match Heath Ledger’s joker act this year, here comes Christopher Waltz, who was totally unknown 2 me before this …:bow: …
also as u’ve mentioned Downfall, I think these r two of the most opposite portrayals of Hitler…one is a delightful & deliberate massacre of history & other one is probably the most realistic & humane portrayal of the same guy…
hey kenny
I saw both the films and more or less echoe your view points…
For me ayaan mukherjee is as maverick and brilliant a director as dibkaar banerjee [although the both do totally incomparable kid of cinema].simply because of the manner in which ayaan handles all the emotional scenes in the film….each and every one of them…
his entire approach to the konkanna-ranbir relationship was fresh and refreshing
and yes do watch inglorious basterds for christoph waltz.///it was a mind-fucking-brilliant performance
have anyone noticed from the begining of the oscars films nominated for foreign language section are much more better then many hollywood movies that are nominated for the oscars.i can bet on that start from the begining whether its bicycle thieves or rashomon or 8 and a half or cinema paradiso or consider any foreign language films are much more better than any oscar nominated hollywood movie leaving aside a few those which actually won oscar.this argument may vary from person to person but if you really keep track of it you will notice
jitaditya i completely agree with you .i thought the same who in the next 10 years can match the jokers performance but this man is vicsious .joker was the end of heath legder’s career and col landa is the begining of christopher’s career.
I think the beauty of this film lies in the casting. The first reaction you have when you think of Ranbir and Konakana together is a strict no no in your head. But as individuals you love both the actors. The director started from our pre-existing liking of these actors as individuals and a kind of a non-acceptance in our mind to imagine them as a pair. using this he lead us on a path where we wanted them together and that was magic.
I doubt any other heroine, say Vidhya Balan, would have worked in this script and i have tried to think of anyone else who could have been a replacement and none came to mind.