Coming up next Friday is the highly anticipated Wake Up Sid, starring Ranbir Kapoor and Konkona Sen Sharma. The film is directed by newcomer Ayan Mukerji and was produced by Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions. Karan has said that he thought Konkona was perfect for the role of Aisha, an aspiring writer who comes to Mumbai to make her dreams come true and while there she meets Ranbir’s Sid. It is at heart an unconventional role and the complete opposite to Sid’s character but deep down Konkona says, “She is as confused as the rest of us when it comes to matters of the heart.”
About the film Konkona wrote on the Wake Up Sid blogs, “Wake up Sid is one of the first coming of age films in Hindi cinema. Sid’s journey is not the regular ‘rebel without a cause’ story. It is one that is firmly ensconced within a sound belief system. And Aisha is one of the more unconventional heroines written.”
She says that she really bonded with director Ayan Mukerji and says he is an old soul, “Few people are more charming than Ayan. Fewer still use it so well. Not that any amount of charm was necessary for me to accept this role. At 25, he had written an unusual film. Ayan, despite his years, is an old soul.”
Adding, “Working with Ayan gave me a fresh perspective that had been missing for some time in my life. His earnestness has percolated into the film and provides it with a unique blend of youthful energy and a sharp maturity. I suspect he is, without knowing it, a little more like Aisha than Sid, actually.
Konkona also revealed “I was hooked from day 1. There were so many sessions at Ayan’s house subsequently. We watched movies, exchanged DVDs, recommended books to one another, went for meals, had drinks, fought and argued, bonded, got jealous when I thought he was bonding more with Ranbir, got hazaar gifts, discussed any number of things from who’s hot to my weight to the latest release that week.”
The actress says through all that she found her character Aisha, “To begin with, Aisha is older than Sid, not much older like Dimple and Akshaye Khanna in Dil Chahta Hai, but older by a few years. What I liked about her is that she is not a generic Hindi film heroine, but a definite character within a specific context. She is the antithesis to Sid’s character, the catalyst to his eventual volte-face. At the outset, she and I have certain similarities. Aisha is a Bengali girl from Kolkata, she is a writer, she is independent, responsible, earnest, hard working and good. Most of which, I have to admit, I’m not! But despite her obvious maturity, she is as confused as the rest of us when it comes to matters of the heart.”
Co-star Ranbir Kapoor recently called Konkona,”a god-gifted, talented actress” and told Natasha Sahgal, “She (Konkona) was absolutely perfect for the character. She is a fantastic actress and nobody else could have played the writer’s part so well. And there is definitely onscreen chemistry and you will see it in the film.”
Get ready to see this chemistry of these two brilliant and whether Sid and Aisha fall in love when Wake Up Sid opens on October 2nd! We know we are going to be there!
