Aisha

A modern day adaption of the 1815 British novel, Emma by Jane Austen, 'Aisha' is a confused and mainly boring film, that holds very less appeal. Rajshree Ojha's 'Aisha' is a tale about a few confused youngsters, of whom, all, are in the search to find the "Right" one. The usual late realizations, the very-usual complications, verbal-fights are put in this chick-flick. The problem with 'Aisha' is it's writing. The Screenplay doesn't justify it's characters, and thus, the show is spoiled. The first hour yet manages to hold your attention. But the second hour is a complete letdown! Even the climax, is disappointing! Rajshree Ojha's direction is fairly okay. The Screenplay is the villain here. Cinematography is just right. Amit Trivedi's Music is vibrant. Acting wise, Sonam doesn't look the part. She looks fine, though. Abhay Deol is very good, as always. Cyrus Sahukar is wasted. Ditto for Ira Dubey. Amrita Puri and Anand Tiwari are superb. Lisa Haydon looks well. On the whole, 'Aisha' is at best, an average fare. One expected much more!

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..!

I have not read 'Emma'...but the concept seemed really hilarious. I was really keen to watch this movie that looked very stylish....but when I did...it was like horror and shock unfolding before my eyes. For one...the movie is too Americanised. All characters dress the way Americans do...they wed the American way and even education system is American (Aisha mentions how Arjun once changed her grade from 'F' to 'A'....which school in India uses the grade system?) Two...none of the actions of the characters seems believable and equations of characters change abruptly. Pinky Bose abruptly decides to break her friendship with Aisha to pursue a relation with Randhir. Shefali, who had been following her advice on relations like a puppy, suddenly decides to go her way. Dhruv Singh abruptly seems to be in love with Arti Menon. There seems to be no build-up for it. Three...The lead of the film Aisha seems just too superficial. Agreed that the lead don't have to be perfect....but shouldn't her actions have some tiny little logic. Her criteria to match people is just based on how they look together...which is OK for a 13 year old....not someone as old as Aisha. So she matches Shefali with Randhir coz they look good together...though she personally believes Randhir to be a loser. In the end...there seems no logic for a mature, reasonable Arjun to actually fall in love with superficial airhead like Aisha....this again, happens abruptly. I'm sure the writer and director can come up with a good product....next time, they should focus less on clothes and more on the plot and its execution ;)

Clueless was a novel adaptation of Austen's Emma that introduced and spread like wildfire the Beverly Hills/Valley Girl/California culture to the rest of the U.S. during the roaring 90s. Now it's India's turn, and Anil Kapoor picks New Delhi as the LA equivalent. The idea is brilliant since India's rapidly increasing materialism, consumerism, and westernization and fascination with romance create a terrific setting for this story. Alicia Silverstone's shallowness, lack of concern for her career, romantic obsessions, glamorous stupidity, and an infatuation with materialistic possessions created the notorious stereotype of a California girl, which even till today is the image that is conjured in people's minds. Sonam Kapoor carries out her character wonderfully. However, where I feel the movie failed was instead of bringing out the new spirit of New Delhi, the film was forced into being a carbon copy of the American adaptation. From PBJs and Valley Girl slang to the VW bug and pepper sprays, the culture portrayed is so obviously not of Delhi at all. For example, far-left liberalism and formation of animal rights groups is something unique in Cali, whereas majority of people in India are already vegetarians, and this aspect of Aisha's ditsy character doesn't even make sense. Each scene is an in-your-face desperate attempt to copy American culture, and it is repulsive. Other films such as Wake Up Sid, Rock On!!, and Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na brought out the new generation of urban India successfully and not by trying to imitate the West. Other than that, songs were terrific and very catchy.

Dear. ... Sonam, Simply unbearable, Sonam Kapoor, I pledge from now on, in whichever movie you will appear, I would stay away from even trailers, forget movie. You overact too much baby, you forget that you are from bollywood. You think that your father born n bred you in LA or NY. So poor baby..You are from India. Get it straight to your head. Overacting is something what I hate. The way you act, I actually get blushy moments on your pathetic attempt to copycat F.R.I.E.N.D.S Jenny's inevitable style, I request you to get natural and please act like you've been born n brought up in Mumbai/Delhi wherever you belong, not being Kardarshian. Sonam, I ......never believed in you. Believe me, never. Last I saw your glimpse in Saanwariya, it was apparent that either Sanjay leela bhansali had indebted truckload of money to your father or worst your father was intimate with him, thus your surprising inception in film industry has been justified. I am not saying you don't have talent or looks.........so what, even I have got loads of talent and great looks, then? My father isn't a human bear, with hairs on the corpse body more than you have got talents in your bootie and some solid luck with B'wood. You were horribly awful in the movie. I got swayed away by 4 star ratings which TOI, and many other newspapers gave you. And I swear, the day I will lose hope of life, the day I will accept that their is no other way left, I will start reviewing movies. I lost my 200/- + snacks ~ 400/- like ........whooooosshhh! All I needed was just a place to place my ass in this sweltering delhi heat where I had decided a dayout with ma friends, else I would have preferred indoors. Pls avoid acting for goodness's sake!

Actually I wasn't planning to see the movie , but then I saw this review where this movie was compared to Peepli live .........the writer was whining about how Aisha lives in a different world where no dirt or beggars are seen on the street ,how unrealistic it is , blah blah blah............and how the real world is shown in Peepli etc......... Then I decided to see the movie for one reason --- We go to movies to escape from reality , not to encounter it .........I mean ,what is the point in seeing movies if the same dreariness of real life is shown in them , the same poverty ,injustice .........we go to indulge in our dreams ( which are never going to turn to reality ) ,like marrying beautiful women or rich men ( depending on the gender you belong to -- sorry for being presemptous ,but here I am taking the liberty of thinking that all women want rich men )..........thats why the old movies many a times showed rich people marrying poor people breaching the rich poor gap and all that ........they allowed the poor to indulge in such dreams for three hours.......... Coming to the movie , it shows Sonam kapoor as a scatterbrained rich girl who is forever into matchmaking ,but without ever achieving any results........ Who cares anyway.........life powered by money is good ,there are lots of parties ,vacations to attend ,polo matches to watch and cheer, shopping malls to visit and run expensive bills , handsome hunks are around to escort you .........above all ,time to play around with......... Her fave project is to fix the marriage of a small town cousin of hers to some rich guy ........here too she fails ,and a small complication develops as the girl ,after other guys have rejected her for precisely her small-townness , falls for the guy Sonam is angling for..........oh poor little Sonam No problems however ,Sonam's father proclaims that this guy will also reject the girl on the same grounds of smalltownness.........and so he does !!! Who cares anyway , Sonam gets to wear fancy clothes , act like a fashion model ,play beach-volleyball in skimpy clothes .........and we get to watch all that........ One nice point though .......the parents are non-interfering in the whole movie........a welcome change from other movies where where fighting against the parents' opposition about the marriage takes up half the time ........i was tired and sick of this ( seen too much of it in real life again )........... rest of the movie is all okay.......

It's a known fact that Devika Bhagat's screenplay is an adaptation of Jane Austen's 'Emma'. The trailers gave the impression of another silly Yashraj movie but seeing the cast and the fact that it was based on a Jane Austen novel, I wanted to give it a shot. Phew, it's definitely not as bad as the Yashraj fairy tale garbage. However, even though I enjoyed 'Aisha' it could have easily been better. With the exception of the wedding and engagement sequences, most of the time 'Aisha' felt too western. They could have Indianized it a bit more. I'm not saying to completely traditionalize it as it's important to show Aisha as an arrogant spoiled brat who loves modern fashion but there's no need to make the film look like a fashion show of western outfits. Also, the commercialization of brands was sometimes too in-your-face. In addition, a few sequences have been lifted off Amy Heckerling's 'Clueless', especially the scenes with Shefali. Moreover I felt that the ending was rushed. I would have liked to see more development of Aisha, Shefali and Pinky post the 'breakup'. Among the good points is that 'Aisha is fun to watch. The music is superb. The comedy works very well. There's hardly a dull moment. The chemistry between most actors is just right. Beautiful looking Sonam Kapoor shows tremendous improvement as an actress since her awkward debut in 'Saawariya'. The performance may not be stupendous but she's competent and proves to be a much better actress than most of her contemporaries. Abhay Deol doesn't have a large role but he lights the screen with a natural performance when he appears in a scene. Ira Dubey, Cyrus Sahukar and Amrita Puri are brilliant. Lisa Haydon doesn't overdo her sexbomb colleague character. A stunning Anuradha Patel is a treat to watch. Anand Tiwari is wasted. 'Aisha' is a decently made film. I found the settings quite confusing and inconsistent. Some scenes were filmed in India and others abroad while there was no mention of such. The cinematography is average and the editing at times felt patchy but not to the extent that it ruins the entire movie. 'Aisha' is no classic but it's entertaining.

I mostly love films with a purpose and depth to them. But every once in a while comes a flick with a relaxed tone and an oft repeated story that still knocks the socks off me. Aisha is such a product. Looks to me like the makers had tons of fun, cause I sure did watching it. Featuring a pitch perfect ensemble cast led by the winsome and pretty Sonam Kapoor, Aisha is a tribute to Jane Austen's Emma, but twenty-first century affluent Indians' style. There's little nouveau about the tale, but the performances, screenplay, dialogues, cinematography, music, editing, direction and choreography all weave together in perfect tandem. I'm not kidding; I thought they all came up with an awesome team effort. Each scene is a pleasure to watch. Moreover, the flick doesn't take itself seriously, which was great for me, cause I'm frankly a little tired of the countless Hindi films that purport to be "the Love Story of a Lifetime". Hey people, not every movie has to be Romeo & Juliet or Ek Dujjhe Ke Liye. Bonus for those of us weary of the traditional high volume Bollywood drama. Even when the heroine goes off on a cringe-inducing lengthy monologue about life and her one true love for the climax, we know we're watching a comedy. The director quickly reminds us courtesy a great twist at scene's end. Speaking of which, Rajshree Ojha is a great find. Hope she strikes it big cause she definitely deserves the success. 9/10

I caught the screening of Aisha yesterday. Since I went to watch the movie without any expectations, I was not disappointed. Although in hindsight I think on several minor points, the movie could have been better. The character of Aisha (Sonam Kapoor) is a free-spirited, narcissistic and arrogant girl who fits in like a glove with the elite society. She loves shopping, wearing designer clothes and accessories, holidaying and enjoying good food and drink. She also has a strong penchant for match-making which she believes she is really good at (like everything else she does!). She has a father who dotes on her and doesn't really care much about her ridiculous shopping sprees, family members who think she is nothing short of perfect, two friends who follow her around like puppy dogs and doting admirers who are at her every beck and call. Naturally, Aisha has her head up in the air and thinks that everyone else are inferior to her or in her own words "bechaara". But her vanity and superiority complex does not come across in a direct way. Her character is not a obnoxious. She does try her best to do good and she truly believes that whatever she does is in the best interest of others although there is a hidden motive of selfishness which she alone fails to recognize. The only person who is not convinced is Arjun (Abhay Deol) who is her sister's brother-in-law. He constantly criticizes Aisha for meddling in other people's affairs which annoys her to no end. He believes that she should mind her own business while she believes that everyone else's business is her own. While on one of her match-making projects, she comes to realize that she is not perfect and has the tendency to be shallow and superficial. She makes up with her estranged friends and come to the realization that her life is incomplete without Arjun. What I liked about this movie is that in the form of Aisha, the filmmakers have tried to show a real person. Aren't we all fed up with the stereotypical larger than life, compassionate, heart of gold, sacrificing, goody two-shoes Bollywood heroine? This movie shows that a person can be good at heart yet still have shades of gray and that doesn't necessarily make the character a negative one. This movie has a refreshing spin on how characters are perceived. The performances are good. Sonam is convincing as the main protagonist. Abhay is a natural actor and I think he will go a long way with the right kind of roles. Ira Dubey and Amrita Puri play their parts well as Aisha's friends but I wish both their characters had more depth to them. Cryrus Sahukar, Arunoday Singh, Lisa Haydon have small roles and do justice to them. The music is hummable.

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.