'Wake Up Sid' not about handsome guy-plain Jane

Aug 26, 2009 Subhash K Jha

Mumbai, Aug 27 (IANS) Debutant director Ayaan Mukherjee admits his "Wake Up Sid" is about a younger man dating an older woman but he is appalled by rumours that it revolves around a handsome guy and a not-so-good looking girl.

"All I can tell you is that this marketing pitch didn't come from me or Karan (Johar). You think I'd dare to call my heroine, who I think is awesome, not good-looking?" Mukherjee asked angrily.

Starring Ranbir Kapoor and Konkona Sen Sharma, the romantic comedy is produced by Karan Johar and is scheduled for release Oct 2.

"It came from a Facebook 'Wake Up Sid' fan club started on the website. Someone just saw Ranbir and Konkona together and decided to draw their own conclusions...To me Konkona is at the moment the most gorgeous woman I've met. In fact, my last shot was with her and I just couldn't stop gawking," Mukherjee, who is actress Kajol's cousin, told IANS.

So is "Wake Up Sid" about an older woman in love with a younger man?

"Yes, Konkona's character Ayesha is a few years older than the guy. But it's not 'Summer Of 42', please! Nor is the age difference concealed here as it was between Ranbir and Bipasha in 'Bachna Ae Haseeno'. What happened was that we wrote in the age difference because I wanted only these two to be in my film.

"When I saw Ranbir in 'Saawariya', I knew this was my Sid. He was young, energetic and hungry to seize life. He was like me. You've to admit Ranbir and Konkona together are a pair that no one would imagine. I liked that challenge. And I also saw Konkona has been around in the industry longer than Ranbir. So I conveniently turned the character into a slightly older woman," Mukherjee said.

Ranbir's dad Rishi Kapoor has done a very fine film about falling in love with an older woman called "Doosra Aadmi" where Raakhee Gulzar played the unusual love interest.

So doesn't he plan to work with cousin Kajol?

"The thought didn't strike me for my first film. I wrote 'Wake Up Sid' as this young new-age 'Dil Chahta Hai'. It's about today's youngsters. Kajol? Yeah. Maybe in my next film... if I'm allowed to make another film," he said.

At the moment Mukherjee is worried about how the audience would take to the title.

"But it had to be 'Wake Up Sid'. It's a wake-up call for this rather laidback hero who meets an unusual woman. It's a real film with no lip-sync songs," he said.

The director was so sad on completion of his film that he got dead drunk.

"I'm very sad that it has ended. Now everyone will move away. It's a heartbreaking process. I don't know how Karan goes through it over and over again," Mukherjee said. Click the Movie button below for more info:
Wake Up Sid