Movie review: Aisha

Originally for Yahoo

Cast: Sonam Kapoor, Abhay Deol, Amrita Puri, Lisa Haydon, Ira Dubey, Cyrus Sahukar, Arunoday Singh

Director: Rajashree Ojha

Producer: Rhea Kapoor, Anil Kapoor

Music: Amit Trivedi

Rating: **1/2

Aisha is based on the 1815 classic by Jane Austen, 'Emma'. You begin watching 'Aisha' with the nagging feeling that a remake of an 1815 classic, after several adaptations worldwide, is hardly likely to offer anything fresh.

Since director Rajashree Ojha and writer Devika Bhagat do make an attempt to retell the story, one would expect some creativity from them. They bring in a new character which is not a part of the original book. Unfortunately that one character - which is Aisha's best friend - has been borrowed from 'Clueless', one of many adaptations of the movie made on screen. 

'Clueless' released in 1995, starring Alicia Silverstone, with direction by Amy Heckerling. And that's not it. Both 'Clueless' and 'Aisha' start in similar styles - the protagonist briefing the audience on her world. Worse, both films start with shots of the protagonist driving her car! Having said that, 'Clueless' is a different movie since the writer did bother to alter the storyline.

Aisha is a girl who likes making matches and she believes she does it best. When she finds a new friend Shefali (Amrita Puri), who gets into her city just to find the right guy to get married to, Aisha decides to get the perfect match for her. She goes about converting Shefali from a shy small town girl to someone befitting the high society and also tries setting her up with a childhood friend Randhir (Cyrus Sahukar) who is in love with Aisha instead. She does not learn her lesson yet, despite being warned by childhood friend Arjun (Abhay Deol). Things only get worse till Aisha realizes she has been a fool.

The problem with Aisha is the screenplay. It never gets deep enough to evoke any emotions in the audience. Two major points in the film are when Aisha's two friends decided on moving on with their own lives. But there was no build up for any of them to be justified. And by the time Aisha realizes her love the film hardly managed to create any attention.

Having said that, credit should be given where due! The character of Shefali, though stereotypical, is well written and enacted. Amrita Puri does a great job getting brilliant expressions every time she is on screen. She is a highlight of the movie. The other characters come out well too and there are no faults as long as performances are concerned. Sonam is good and so is Ira Dubey who plays the best friends. Abhay Deol does not have much to do - something very unfortunate for the talented actor. But he brings the screen alive whenever he is on it. Cyrus Sahukar does a great job too playing the lovable loser.

Technically the film has been shot well. Though quite a bit of the film is shot indoors it has been done well. The gloss of the high life Delhi society comes through. Background and playback music works too. Editing could have been better though.

Overall, Aisha is best in the promos! The film clearly misses the spark and ends up as an average product. At no point in the story do you feel anything for the protagonist or the people around her. It stays superficial. You would not miss much if you give Aisha a miss!