Wake Up Sid

Wake Up Sid was entirely shot in Mumbai, covering the areas of South Mumbai and Bandra. The college sequence was shot at H.R. College of Commerce and Economics near Churchgate, Mumbai.

Wake Up Sid released on 2 October 2009, coinciding with the Gandhi Jayanti extended weekend.

Wake Up Sid's television rights were sold to Colors at the time of its premiere, whence it would subsequently premiere on UTV Movies, and later Bindass. Eventually, after the Disney acquisition of Star India, the film began premiering with multiple slot re-runs on Star Gold Select.

Wake Up Sid's DVD was published by UTV Home Video.

UTV Indiagames also released a mobile video game based on the film.[4]

Wake Up Sid opened well in India and overseas markets. Its opening weekend gross was ₹215 million (US$2.7 million) of which the domestic gross was ₹170 million (US$2.1 million). It was number one in the box office during its first and second weeks, number four during its third week, and number three during its fourth week.

In the United Kingdom, the film collected US$165,934, while in the US, the collections were US$717,977. By its fourth week, it grossed $348,351 in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Do Knot Disturb also released during the same time, but Wake Up Sid got a larger portion of the audience.

Wake Up Sid received widespread critical acclaim upon release, with high praise for its novel concept, themes, direction, screenplay, soundtrack and performances of the cast.

Subhash K. Jha from Bollywood Hungama gave Wake Up Sid a rave review stating that it is, "a triumph on many levels [...] Ayan Mukerji takes the age-old dramatic conflicts of our commercial cinema into understated corridors.[5] Similarly, Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the film 4 out of 5 stars as well as a "thumbs up" stating that it is "strongly recommended."[6] Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave the film 3.5 out of 5 stars, stating that Wake Up Sid "has its heart in the right place and marks the breakout of a bright, shining star who has come into his own so early in his acting career. Watch it, and be awestruck by Ranbir."[7]

Mayank Shekhar of Hindustan Times gave it 3.5 out of 4 stars and states, "Wake Up Sid belongs to a sweet genre that, without doubt, flows on from Farhan Akhtar's Dil Chahta Hai (2001): part-Hollywood; part-Bollywood; mostly coming-of-age; subtly romantic; largely original; authentic in feel; light in weight; English in expression; Hindi in language."[8] Avijit Ghosh of The Times of India gave it 3.5 out of 4 stars and suggests that, "Wake Up Sid becomes a sort of template of how GenNow navigate their lives: deal with their own little rebellions, find meaning to their own definitions of independence and handle their own set of mistakes. It feels good when the two friends finally meet in driving rain under the grey skies by the sea. Refreshing and heart-warming, Wake Up Sid really puts you in the mood for love."[9] Noyon Jyoti Parasara of AOL India gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars and praised the director saying, "Ayan Mukerji arrives in style and manages to leave his own mark on the film despite having a producer like Karan Johar whose other productions always tend to have his stamp. Wake Up Sid really puts you in the mood for love."[10]

Joginder Tuteja of the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) calls the film "flawless" and gave it 3.5 stars out of 5. He states: "There are 5 things that make Wake Up Sid a delightful affair. It has a constant flow throughout; no over-the-top or understated drama; no ultra-emotional strangulation of audiences; absolutely no yuppie cool dude act; and last but not the least, this is an original and refreshing story."[11] Rachel Saltz of The New York Times argues that: "With no big production numbers (songs play over montage sequences), a quiet style and credible characters, Wake Up Sid is Bollywood in an indie mood, a film for people like Aisha and Sid: young and educated. It may not be as hip as Bombay Beat, the magazine where the two work, but it shows that Mr. Mukerji is a director to watch."[12]

In one point of criticism, Sudhish Kamath of Chennai's The Hindu labeled the closing moments as a "stock-ending" and noted that, despite the film's overall effectiveness, the ending "leaves you a little disappointed."[13] Variety's Joe Leydon found the film "instantly forgettable", but praised the performances of Sharma and Kapoor, as well noting how "effortlessly appealing" the film is, stating: "...this atypically low-key Bollywood romantic comedy somehow manages to remain pleasantly diverting throughout its 138-minute running time."[14]

On 2 October, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena supporters protested to halt the screening of Wake Up Sid in Mumbai and Pune. The MNS objected the use of the word "Bombay" instead of "Mumbai" in the movie.

• Ranbir Kapoor was the original choice for the lead role. Director Ayan Mukerji wrote the film keeping him in his mind.
• Like Ranbir, Konkona Sen Sharma was the original choice for the role of Aisha Banerjee. In an Interview to a TV channel, Ranbir said that Ayan had already thought about casting her in the film but he didn't tell that to him. However, after the narration of the script it was Ranbir himself who coincidentally recommended Konkona's name to Ayan mainly because she suited the character and no other actress from his generation could have played Aisha better than Konkona.
• Ayan Mukherji took around one-and-a-half year to write the story, script and screenplay of the film. He then narrated the script to Karan Johar who approved the script in one narration and decided to produce it.
• The song "Iktara" was not originally used in the soundtrack. Ranbir loved the song in the background and he wanted to use the song officially in some other film, if it is not used properly in the film. However, later the song was used in two different versions - Female and Male that were picturized on Konkona and Ranbir respectively.

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Bollywood Hungama	[23]
Rediff.com	[24]

The reactions towards the music were favorable. Chandrima Pal of Rediff gave the album 3.5 stars, stating, "the music sticks to the brief. It is hip, urban and bubbly, and unhurried. And thanks to Shankar Ehsaan Loy's musicianship, it is a slick, well-balanced production".[24] Joginder Tuteja (Bollywood Hungama) gave it 3.5 stars out of possible 5, suggesting that, "this may not really turn out to be the bestseller of the year but should certainly be a perfect fit for the narrative."[23]