I rewatched Wake Up Sid today with my family at dinner. The first time I had watched the movie I was a kid, and the only thing I remembered about it were two amazing songs ('Wake Up Sid' and 'Iktara'), the fact that it had Ranbir Kapoor and Konkona Sen as the lead actors, and the opinion that it is a good movie (the kid me was an intellectual movie critic!). Did that opinion change after rewatching the film? Let's find out! Disclaimer: There are spoilers ahead! (Just to let you know, I find this warning extremely funny because the movie came out in 2009 and if you still haven't watched it, well, you deserve the spoilers then.)

Let's start with what I did not like. The directing could've been better in terms of how Aisha, Konkona's character, has been shown. They way she is made to repeatedly emphasize that she and Siddharth, aka Sid, Ranbir Kapoor's character, are nothing more than friends and never would be gets super cringe-y, especially in the extremely awkward way she says it everytime. Konkona Sen doesn't know how to act shy and she has absolutely no reason to be shy as far the movie is concerned.

Aisha is a 27 year old woman come all the way from Kolkata, West Bengal, to Mumbai, Maharashtra, looking for independence and a job as a writer. Her personality should've been a little bolder than what is shown. But Apoorva, she's a lonely woman in a new city! Sure. She is. But being apprehensive of new people, new surroundings, and a new place is different from awkwardly telling an almost-college-graduate that you won't be his girlfriend! Now, I really can't say if this is a fault in Konkona's part as an actor or on the part of Ayan Mukherjee as the writer-director. Maybe both.

One thing I detested, absolutely hated, was Aisha's interview scene with Kabir (played by Rahul Khanna), the editor-in-chief of Mumbai Beats, the magazine she wants to work for. Translating and paraphrasing a piece of the conversation: 'I rehearsed this interview in my mind so many times but I did not know I would get so nervous and you would be so handsome'. And then she wears a shocked expression on her face, realizing what she just said, and Kabir looks at her with an expression which I can only call amusement. In the next scene she is seen excitedly telling Sid that she got the job.

(Sighing and shaking my head) This was plain wrong. So. Wrong. If the positions were reversed and it were Kabir saying this to Aisha he probably would've been termed a creep! What that single, and might I add useless, line also does is that it gives an impression that the blurted-out remark had some bearing on her getting the job rather than her qualifications only. That line could've, and should've, been done away with.

Coming to what I liked about the film, the first thing would be vibes! Yes, vibes, and i'm not sorry for using this word. There is a happy resolution (I like happy endings, sue me!), Sid gets a job, he is reconciled with his parents after the big fight, and he and Aisha get together at the end! Ultimately, it's a movie which leaves you with warm feelings and has simple, good vibes.

I loved how the age gap between Aisha and Sid is not dwelled upon in the movie and isn't mentioned by the characters except once, in passing. Kabir is presented to us a rival of Sid in terms of winning Aisha's affections. His "mature" behaviour, which Aisha supposedly liked in a man, is ultimately rejected by her for the more easy, childish, fun-loving Sid.

Taking up the topic of acting, all the actors did an okay job. It wasn't award-winning but it also wasn't bad. Ranbir Kapoor does a decent job as a spoilt brat and a young graduate, Supriya Pathak and Anupam Kher as Ranbir's parents are as good as always, Kashmera Shah is...dramatic, and Shikha Talsania and Namit Das are easy and cool.

Reverting to the question of whether my feelings changed for the film or not, if someone were to ask me if I like the film I would definitely answer in the positive! Although there is nothing exceptional about the movie, it has the capability of becoming a comfort film for some people.