Aisha

Sonam Kapoor, Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone burst onto the Bollywood scene just about the same time with one another in 2007, with the Kapoors (no relation here) starring in their first feature film together in Saawariya. We know how prolific Ranbir Kapoor has become with a successful 2009 and 2010 seeing him all serious in Raajneeti, while Deepika Padukone herself is fairing none too bad with a string of releases. This is not a tabloid so I'll stay hands off on the on-off romance between these two, but somehow Sonam Kapoor has got off the blocks rather slower than her peers, and seem to be making up for it just recently.

Thanks to dad Anil Kapoor and sister Rhea as producers, I suppose a project like this will only befit one of their own in taking on the starring role as the titular Aisha, or shall you say the Hindi version of Jane Austen's Emma, directed by Rajshree Ojha. Sonam Kapoor steps into the role as the romantic matchmaker wannabe who, as the idle daughter of a rich man in Delhi, takes it upon herself to be a Ms Fixit, especially when it comes to matters of the heart. Not hers of course, but that of her friends and family. With best friend Pinky (Ira Dubey), Aisha takes it upon herself to transform plain Jane Sheali (Amrita Puri) into an air-head femme fatale, and just about as confused as Aisha herself is.

I suppose if you know the story of Emma, then you'd know the story of Aisha as well, although it's more like Clueless starring Alicia Silverstone than Austen's literary epic for the more modern, upbeat feel to it. Amongst Sonam Kapoor's role, I actually disliked her portrayal of Aisha, who's more negative than a positive one, highlighting with some cliché humour on the fairer sex's indecisiveness when it comes to the matters of the heart, and seriously, creating more problems out of nothing than to actually address the issues at hand. The coy yet arrogant, cloy yet independent behaviour when in the midst of different parties just brings out the sheer hypocrisy of the character.

Which is not to say that Sonam Kapoor didn't do well with the role, but I felt her earlier roles were more challenging. If anything, she shows that she's quite the clotheshorse here with, I think, almost every scene seeing her decked out to the nines in designer togs, and carrying them off very well on her lithe frame. In some ways the film becomes an advertising feature for the various fashion houses and labels that Aisha endorses, and becomes like a huge product placement during one of the montage sequences.

Everything else that goes on in the film, sad to say, you wouldn't care too much about, because the rest of the supporting cast are quite the caricature, offering not much depth as they either pander around or loathe Aisha's presence as she sashays her way to manipulate the lives of others, only to see her plans backfire hard one by one onto herself. However, every spoilt brat deserves a break, and in comes the indecisive (as well) hero Arjun (Abhay Deol) who drapes a New York based colleague Aarti (Lisa Haydon) around, to invoke the natural bitchy comparison by any pretty lass when another prettier, more popular lass is in their midst. Meow.

There seems to be quite the disconnect with the characters as they all seem to be fairly loaded without doing anything substantial, most born with a silver spoon in their mouths, and watching them wild about their idle time attending weddings, parties, and the likes, just seems too surreal to be rooted in reality. But as a romantic comedy, this one had its eye candy cast galore to thank for to hold your attention as it plods its way (and thankfully for a Bollywood film, just slightly over 2 hours) to a finale which you know all's well that ends well, with all the messiness of relationship entanglements straightened out in no time. Strictly for those with Emma fetish and want to compare across all versions and variations.

Aisha is a modern-day adaptation of Jane Austen's famous novel Emma. Now I'm personally not into this kind of movies, but I still wanted to see it for Abhay Deol, whom I consider to be one of the most talented actors in India today, and most of whose films and performances I highly appreciated. Aisha actually centres around the young Sonam Kapoor, whose Aisha is a take-off on Austen's Emma. The movie reminds me of many of those kitschy Hollywood fairy tales like The Princess Diaries, and it tries very hard to be western. It actually is supposed to be a fairy tale, but it mostly looks like a wannabe rather than a good movie on its own. Its dialogues, songs, characters, and its overall atmosphere all seem to have been inspired from various foreign movies of this sort, and sadly, not even once does it try to show the beauty of India, using it only in some comic scenes of parody instead. Sonam Kapoor plays the title role, and she is okay. She does manage to carry the film on her shoulders, but despite being pretty and vivacious, she somehow seems to lack the charm her character requires, and at points she gets a bit annoyingly unnatural. Abhay Deol is reduced to a role of minimal importance and by the end of the film I was left wondering what on earth he could find in this movie or role that he accepted it. Aisha is not a complete bore and it does have its moments from time to time, but overall it's an ordinary and rather mediocre tale, which could be easily skipped.

i watched the flick today and i din' find it convincing...i was expecting a bit more from it..it did not even had the level of entertainment value one would expect watching the trailers of this movie..i went to watch the movie to enjoy to the fullest...thinking of it as one of the urban comedies that would make me laugh..and get involved with the movie...and i came back from the cinema hall reluctantly..

Talking about performances..well they were just average...Abhay Deol's expressions were nice...but he was not able to carry himself with the story and the plot of the movie..Sonam was as disgusting as ever when it comes to act...though she looked cute in it..Ira Dubey was much better on CHICKS ON FLICKS rather than wasting her time here and even smooching Cyrus Sahukar...m.k. Raina was just jumping along with the lead actors trying hard as if he is turned 25 again...Cyrus Sahukar was as he is..and others also gave just average performances...yupp..the only girl i can praise is Amrita Puri...being her debut movie...she did a great job..acted better than Sonam Kapoor and many other experienced actors...she was really convincing..

the music was very cool..specially the song "GAL MITTHI MITTHI BOL" is already my one of the favorite of recent times..and the title track "AISHA" is also nice...the direction was somehow fresh..but was again just an average direction..cinematography was good...screenplay was okish except in few scenes when it became ultra-slow..

all in all...the movie was just average..with a below average story and content..

i would rate it 4 / 10 this week...go for DESPICABLE ME..instead of AISHA..at least you would enjoy much more than watching AISHA..!!

Lets be clear that style is more important than substance in this film. Its almost a paid promo for Sonam and the brands she endorses.. L'Oreal / Dior / Elle / Louis Vuitton getting as much footage as some of the characters. What keeps it together are some good punch lines and very good performances from Abhay Deol (who basically carries the film on his shoulders), Ira Dubey (plays her part to perfection) and Amrita Puri (who puts heart into the girl from Bahadurgarh). They manage to hold it reasonably together till the first half but then it starts to fall apart. Key reason is that we never understand why the characters behave the way they do because character development is sacrificed at the altar of fast paced storytelling. And promoting Sonam, making sure she is always the centre of attention. And its all very predictable. For more on this movie & other reviews visit apurvbollywood at blogspot

There is a scene in the movie where Abhay Deol looks at Sonam and accuses her of being shallow. He may have been talking to the director of the movie. I don't know how many times poor Jane Austen may be rolling in her grave. Forget about adapting from the book (which is a true masterpiece ); it wasn't even able to copy from another classic of its kind.

The story does not progress with any logic – scenes seem to have been cut and pasted to fill in the gap. The character Emma is supposed to be a complex one – she is vain, narcissistic and controlling yet has charm and an attractive appeal about her. You love to hate her. Aisha, on the other hand , seemed plain dumb. Fighting with her childhood friend and acting like a bitchy teenager when another hot girl comes into the picture (a totally irrelevant addition) is really not a show of character. The love-hate equation with Abhay Deol should have been crackling but they keep arguing unnecessarily throughout the movie. Sonam doesn't look very convincing in her I-know-what's-best attitude.

As for the characters - Sonam has potential but is slowly becoming a bimbo expert. However she usually looks pretty in her movies and has a good sense of style so her styling in the movie seemed way off. The outfits were meant to emulate the Manhattan street style but looked odd and out of place. Abhay is his smart Alec self but looks so disgusted with his co star, you wonder how he fell in love with her. The supporting characters actually add flavor to the movie. Amrita Puri is fabulous, with good roles and opportunity she can make it big. Cyrus looks very genuine and appears to be a typical Delhi boy. Ira Dubey goes from headstrong and blasé to gentle and soft in 2 consecutive frame which confuses everyone.

The only scoring point was the movie's music which is very apt , youthful and a true delight..wish the movie was the same..!