We enjoyed our takeout while watching the movie Wake Up Sid. Sid is a spoiled rich kid from Mumbai (Bombay) who doesn't know how to take responsibility for his own life, but sure does know how to enjoy life. He meets a girl from Kolkata (Calcutta) on the day she arrives in Mumbai, shows her the city that night, and they quickly form a friendship. Sid helps her get settled in and later she helps him deal with some troubles he has in his life. Being a Hindi movie, you know there is a love story coming, but there are a few points in the movie where you question who will fall in love with whom exactly. 

Like many Indian movies, you come away from this movie feeling like you should enjoy life. Indian movies are full of people dancing in the rain, celebrating holidays or milestones (large or small), laughing out loud, and finding a way to float a myriad of colors across the screen in some kind of music scene. This movie, unlike many Bollywood movies, does not have any dance scenes though. It does have music scenes, but there's no dancing. I guess in this way, it might be one of the less confusing first Hindi films for a non-Indian person to watch. The actors don't just suddenly drop everything they're doing and break into a song and dance number, only to resume what they were doing as if nothing happened, as soon as the song ends.

I liked this movie, but I like all Indian movies so I consulted some online reviews and my husband who decided to be a man of very few words tonight. "It was a good movie," he said. The reviews seem pretty decent too, with 7.4 / 10 on IMDb. 

I like all Indian movies because they remind me of India. There are scenes of some place I've been or some place I want to go, little cultural nuances that either remind me of Indian culture or teach me something new, songs that just get stuck in your head for a few days afterward, and reminders of the importance of enjoying our life or the wonders of falling in love. This is why I like all Indian movies. This is why the last night of our last trip to India, I bought all the movies I could find that were in the right format and had English subtitles - even when my husband said it wasn't a very good movie. 

Wake up Sid is a good movie for non-Indians to watch because it is on the shorter side for a Hindi film, at only 2 hours 18 minutes. There is not even an interval (intermission) in this movie. This is not the best Hindi film I've ever seen, but it was definitely a good one and I'd recommend it to anyone looking to bring a little slice of India into your home.

Where to Find: We checked the movie out at our local library. The food is from Touch of India in Birmingham, Michigan. If you are vegan and order this food, make sure you tell them no dairy. They are really good at omitting dairy there.