Be The Artist Of Your Life

If you’ve been reading the blog posts on The Soulful Nib for a while now, you might have come across a few of them regarding my favourite movies.

While there are a handful of movies which I absolutely adore, there is one specific movie which I can watch over and over again. In fact, if given a choice to watch only one movie for the rest of my life, it would be this: Wake Up Sid. 😁
This might sound like an exaggeration, but believe me. I’ve watched this movie close to TWENTY times now!
Today marks a special day for Wake Up Sid, as it completes 10 years! And what better time than today to write about what it means to me.
For a movie to make it to my “favourites list”, it has to satisfy three criteria (Do I sound like a movie critic?):

1. Relatable characters
2. Simple storyline (no drama)
3. Soul-stirring music

You guessed it right. Wake Up Sid gets full marks in all three. Of course, there are three more movies which have made it to the list, two of which have already been dedicated a blog post to:

1. Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
2. Dear Zindagi

There’s Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani too. You can expect a blog post about that movie somewhere in the future.

Getting back to Wake Up Sid, it’s a lovely movie with so many life lessons to learn. When I first watched it, I couldn’t help but notice how simple and straight-forward the story is! Something that isn’t usually the case with Bollywood movies.

Wake Up Sid is a movie centring around Siddharth Mehra a.k.a. ‘Sid’ (played by Ranbir Kapoor). Sid is a rich, spoilt brat (as they say in Hindi, “Bade Baap Ki Bigdi Hui Aulaad”). For Sid, life is nothing but chilling out with his best friends and partying all night. Photography is one thing that holds his heart. All he needs is a camera and he clicks away to his heart’s content.

One night, at his college farewell party, he meets Aisha Bannerjee (played by Konkona Sen Sharma). Aisha is an aspiring writer from Kolkata who has come all the way to Mumbai to fulfil her dreams. As they get talking, Sid and Aisha become friends. It is endearing to see the ease with which they bond almost instantly.

Everything in Sid’s life looks perfect until the results of his final examinations get announced. He fails miserably in it. A series of unfortunate events involving an ugly spat with his parents and his best friends, lead him to move out of home. He goes to Aisha and they both end up living in the same place, as roommates.

Despite all that happened, Sid still does not mend ways and takes life without any seriousness. What follows is Sid’s journey to self-discovery and freedom.

Wake Up Sid taught me one important lesson. We should never shy away from chasing our dreams. Unconventional career paths are an option and need not be looked down upon. As long as one is passionate and truly loves what they do, nothing in the world matters.

When you are pursuing your dreams, you also have to face all the apprehensions and fears that come along. When asked whether she isn’t scared to be living in a new city all by herself, Aisha’s reply is something that stole my heart.

“Tumhe nahi pata kitna darr lagta hai. But you know what, sab theek ho jaayega. Bombay aana mera sapna tha. Aur ab yahaan hoon toh darr nahi sakthi. Itna kuch karna hai ki darr ke liye koi jagah nahi hogi.”

So much wisdom in it, right?

It also makes you realise that it’s the small things that count. Aisha and Sid celebrate Aisha’s birthday in the most adorable way. When Sid suggests that they go out and party, Aisha does not hesitate to tell that they can have a party right there, in her apartment. “Tum, Main, aur Do Cup Chai”, as she puts it.

The movie also urges you to go and live all by yourself. Those who have watched the movie know how beautiful Aisha’s apartment is! Yours truly might have even nurtured a dream of painting her own room in the exact same way somewhere in the future. 😁

Apart from the main characters, the supporting characters of the actors playing Sid’s best friends have been beautifully sketched, too. The movie makes you be a bit more grateful for the friends you have. Even the characters played by Anupam Kher and Supriya Pathak as Sid’s parents are brilliant!

The music though is the best. “Kya Karoon” is such an uplifting song, telling us to take life a little less seriously. And so are “Life Is Crazy” and “Aaj Kal Zindagi”; they make you feel all happy and cheerful.

Of course, there is “Iktara”, the song which stole my heart. The picturisation coerces me to go and take a walk alongside the seashore, every time I listen to it.

Even the songs which play for a few moments like “Yahan Se Chal”, “So Close”, and “Boondon Ki Moti” are all delightful and soothing to listen to.

The USP of this movie (at least for me), is the direct, no-nonsense narration of the story. No twists and turns, no unwanted drama. In short, something that is a lot more realistic. Despite having watched the movie so many times, I learn something new from it every single time.

Of late, I relate a lot more to Aisha, mainly because she dreams of being a writer one day. The writer’s block which she faces, her habit of journaling, it’s all something which I can easily connect to.

I could go on and on about why this movie is so special to me. But for now, I’ll end this blog post here.

Please do let me know if you’ve watched this movie, and whether you liked it too!

Until next time, stay blessed!

Image created via Canva