One of my favorite movies - Wake up Sid!

As you all know I am a movie buff... And Wake up Sid falls in one of my Top 5 Bollywood movies (or maybe in every category of cinema)... Its actually very difficult for me to chose my Top movies because for me every movie fits a mood, a situation, a state of mind. But if someone asks me my top choice, usually it is a movie which I can watch many times and still love it the same way I did when I saw it the first or second time. I include the second time because movies grow on me... Sometimes after watching the movie on DVD (with my headphones) I get closer to a movie!

Wake up Sid is one movie which I totally love everytime I watch it. There are other movies (Andaz Apna Apna and JJWS) which I have probably watched way more than Wake up Sid but Wake up Sid is special for multiple reasons: Bombay, being one of them and my love for every character in the movie. For me 'Dramas' are right up there in the genres I enjoy watching and obviously for a Drama, the characters have to be well written. I am not the best at articulating my thoughts (and I don't have that much time on hand) but I could write every little detail on every character of this movie. I also believe the supporting cast which play these characters have to be good and that's another important reason why Wake up Sid is high on my list.

I started writing this blog to list some of my favorite scenes of the movie... Thankfully either UTV movies or somebody else has taken the pain to put these on youtube - God bless them!

Perfect ending!  - When the movie ends well you leave the theatre with a good feeling. The last six to seven minutes of the movie are something which make the movie very very special for me... its difficult to explain how this scene and the article 'New Girl in the city' are so special for me - I echo Ayan's thought that the feeling you have for a place is always defined by the people you have with you in that place! Needless to say the song boondon ke moti, the start of monsoon, the drive through Bombay in the rains, all complete the scene... Ayan Mukerjee has written this scene very well and coming from a 24-25 year old is impressive. Honestly there are many many such very well written scenes in the movie!

Tumhe bura nahin lagta?... Ofcourse bura lagta hai!  - In this scene, this one line is what makes the scene extraordinary... the fact that good friends are forever. They may feel bad that you don't spend time with them, but they are truly happy for you!!

Tumhare friends ki tarah mein bhi English mein baat karu, to kya pata hum bhi friends ban jaye - This line and the sitar playing in the background are the high points of this scene!! Sid saying 'I miss you Ma' without looking at her - this is what indian boys do.. and usually we take moms for granted! The mom's first reaction 'Siddy, shirt mein you are looking so handsome'! 'Aur kabhi kabhi aap aam bhej deti ho - its kinda obvious'

Loved the narration of this scene! - this is what I say about characters in the movie... Debbie and the boy who says 'sabse expensive gaadi tere paas hi hogi na'!! And ofcourse Lakshmi and Rishi!

For Wake up Sid fans like me - definitely check out these deleted scenes!!

Music plays a critical role in my life, and always has…

Every song, every album has a memory attached to it – it may be the first time I heard the song, it could be the song I sang to my loved one, or it could just be a song I heard with friends over a drink. Given my really bad memory, I don’t remember a lot of things, especially my past. But these songs take me back – take me back to that time and usually I have an emotion attached and sometimes, miraculously I even feel that emotion… I made a playlist for a party and I included Let’s Enjoy, The Namesake and the Night Song in this playlist. I have NO idea who stars in this Bollywood movie Let’s Enjoy, but for those who don’t know, it has a fabulous soundtrack. Some of you may have heard Dhol Wajda; and trust me that’s the most mediocre song in that album – there are some good fusion numbers by Midival Punditz and a couple of good numbers by Ankush Tewari. You would have guessed that these three albums have a fusion influence – and it was supposed to be a Indian fusion playlist.

The playlist being on shuffle I heard Let’s Enjoy first, then Namesake followed by Night song, these albums have a slightly different chronology in my life (ofcourse relevant to their releases). Night song reminds me of Namu’s apartment in Colaba – a bunch of 18 year olds architecture students (me being the only Accountant amongst them) listening to Nusrat Fateh Ali. This was one of the early exposure to fusion music. The Night song reminds me of days and nights spent in ‘town’, J.J. school of Architecture, trains to VT, rain dance party’s at US club, and a teenager life – something which I thoroughly enjoyed… every bit of it. Let’s Enjoy takes me to a 24 yr old boy, driving home every night from a dream job in investment banking in a brand new car his father bought him for becoming a Chartered Accountant; and every night trying to beat his own time of driving from Churchgate to Prabhadevi. The Namesake happened only 3 years later, but this time it was a 27 yr old man. And one thing which The Namesake’s soundtrack reminds me of something I blogged about 5 years ago - about how we try to live our 'lives' in this foreign land (and shown in the bengali parties in the movie), celebrating festivals in complete fanfare (to the extent of playing holi with colors & water), having elaborate weddings, having the cricket or bollywood gup over booze or chai, only to realize that once its time to go home, we have to take our large coats, drive out in left hand drive cars and eventually sleep on spring mattresses!

And while I type this another of my FAVORITE song plays in the background…

Waqt ki qaid mein zindagi hai magar

Chand ghariyaan yehi hain jo aazaad hain

Inko kho kar meri jaan-e-jaan

Umr bhar na taraste raho