The title song is immensely sing-along’ish and despite that mild monotony via Shankar’s vocals, makes for a lovely listen, particularly the exuberant title call-out. In Kya Karoon, the highlight is clearly Clinton Cerejo’s vocals – brilliant choice, since his largely non-filmy texture adds a fabulous layer to the already soothing track! Aaj kal zindagi is comparatively weaker, but makes up with the hopeful, soaring ‘Tere liye nayee hain’ part. But, where the soundtrack truly scores is in the last 2 tracks – Iktara and Life is crazy. The former has a compelling tune by guest composer Amit Trivedi, playing along gorgeous guitars, with marvelous vocals by Kavita Seth and Amitabh Bhattacharya…the ‘Goonjasa hai koi iktara’ refrain is remarkable! On the latter, first, it has Uday Benegal, again, after ages! And second, it’s a brilliantly conceived tune doing complete justice to Javed Akhtar’s coming-of-age lyrics! Shankar Ehsaan Loy now have 2 distinct styles of music – one, the very-Indian, very-SEL sound they pioneered that occasionally, unfortunately sounds jaded (Luck By Chance!). The second is what they pioneered with Rock On – a more accessible pop-rock genre that embodies Bollywood idioms rather well for better reach. Wake Up Sid, thankfully, is soaked in the latter. Uplifting soundtrack!
Keywords: Ranbir Kapoor, Konkona Sen Sharma, Shankar Ehsaan Loy, Amit Trivedi, Javed Akhtar, Jaran Johar