Aisha (2010)

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

The film opens at a wedding party for the upper crust, leaders of industry, old money, their families. The opulence is clear. The narration proceeds from Aisha, a young woman perhaps not quite of marriageable age. Aisha decides she's is going to be a matchmaker. Her first project is to match the not-beauty-conscious Shefali with some suitable bachelor, say Randhir, who is well-established and thinks rather highly of himself.Aisha and Pinky start the make-over of Shefali. Arjun lets Aisha know he thinks she has gone to far. While setting up Randhir and Shefali, Aisha encounters Dhruv, her aunt's new husband's only son. Arjun seems a bit jealous the next morning. Aisha and Shefali go to the animal rescue center (ARC) where Shefali meets Saurabh, whom she seems to know and like already. This seems out of step with Aisha's plans.The whitewater camping party was a bit of a change from all the ostentatious display of wealth in the initial wedding scene, or the polo match, or the trips to the upscale clothing stores. The single instrument, single voice musical interlude was quite nice. The music without dance was well done. Shefali falls into the river at one point; Arjun jumps in to rescue her.Aisha's interest in Dhruv and in Arjun deepens during this trip. The presence of Arjun's friend Aarti from New York helps this along. Randhir reveals his interest in Aisha, who is quick to discourage it, since this upsets her plans. Shefali wonders why Randhir did not help her out of the river. Randhir confides to Pinky that no one likes him. He bemoans the probability of remaining a bachelor for life; Pinky says, 'join the club.' Great stuff. On the way back, previous events match Pinky and Randhir driving back with just each other. Aisha goes with Dhruv after the bad scene with Randhir.Back at home, Aisha decides to quit matchmaking, and tell Shefali about Randhir. What more could possibly go wrong? Arjun and Aisha reconnect, for a while. Shefali reconnects with Saurabh. The writing is on the wall, but Aisha tries to re-direct things, again.Ah, another party. Dance numbers. Territorial stuff. Arjun slugs Dhruv, then leaves with Aarti. At a formal family party, Arjun brings Aarti. Will Aisha recognize her own interest in Arjun?Randhir and Pinky become engaged; Aisha is surprised that no one consulted her. Shefali wants to get rid of everything that reminds her of Randhir. Aisha thinks of setting up Shefali and Dhruv. Shefali is more interested in Arjun, since he actually stepped up to save her in the river. Shefali finally revolts against Aisha's controlling actions. Aisha and Arjun have another falling out.Dhruv and Aarti get engaged. Aisha tells her father she's in love with Arjun. Her father tells her he will set things up, and that she should go tell Arjun, who's at the party for Aarti and Dhruv. What could possibly go wrong? Quite a bit.------Scores-------Cinematography: 8/10 Focus is too soft for my taste, but most of the camera work looks very good.Sound: 9/10 Fine.Acting: 6/10 Overly dominated by the indifferent Sonam Kapoor; fortunately, many of the good supporting actors cushion this effect.Screenplay: 7/10 It's a piece about a strongly irritating personality, but it's fairly well done.Musical Numbers: 6/10 There is not nearly as much dancing as usual. Included a few moments of rap, which I could have done without.

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 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 ;)

I thought Aisha was really cute. As an Emma adaptation, I thought it was excellent- they kept all the important elements of the story in, and I saw a few homages to Clueless in there as well. I like that Aisha wasn't 100% likable, as she shouldn't be- she is a girl who's been given everything in life, which doesn't always lend itself to peachy sweetness. Of course she's going to be arrogant! Nobody other than Arjun ever says no to her.Because this film is about a very wealthy girl and her matchmaking pursuits, which do often come across as very superficial and celebrating monetary pleasures, and the characters are very shallow at times (their problems are hardly anything, compared to the very real struggles other Indians face) I can see how some people might not like it- my dad thought it was absolutely ridiculous (his exact quotes were "I can't believe filmmakers would waste celluloid on this trash").However, the essence of the film is to show how silly Aisha's attempts are at forcing what cannot be forced, regardless of how much she tries to manipulate the situation or how much money she throws at it. She is portrayed as an arrogant girl, but we are shown that doing so ultimately alienates her friends from her. Do the filmmakers celebrate what could be labeled as "western excess" in the process of telling her story? Sure, but who doesn't like seeing pretty clothes and hairstyles once in a while? Aisha Kapoor is not one of the "mango people"- who would expect her to be? The music was terrific, and the supporting cast did a wonderful job- especially Amrita Puri, who played the character of Shefali. For those who have seen Clueless, I definitely felt echoes of Brittany Murphy's character Tai through her performance- in a great way. She was really cute! And Ira Dubey played Aisha's sarcastic friend Pinky (Dion in Clueless) to a T, and Abhay Deol and Cyrus Shankar were great as Arjun and Randhir.I personally highly recommend this film if you're looking for a fun, escapist Jane Austen adaptation with great clothes and danceable music.