~~~Romantic Comedy, Flavour Chick Flick~~~. Review on Aisha

Merrymakers of youth, how far they hide their real thoughts and emotions from the friends and relatives? How far they run away from reality for an oasis of social approval?

Based on Jane Austen's classic Emma Aisha is a satire at its core. While the 'society lady' syndrome invaded the core of girls, the 'playboy' curtain blocked the forts of boys. Parents approve these adventures in the name of 'liberty'. Welcome to the party of youth, a romantic comedy called Aisha.

Aisha (Sonam Kapoor) is a go getter. For her, everybody is her business; then, she is not doing this for money. The entire characters in the film and the story play to the tune Aisha with all her attitude. Aisha finds her pleasure in matching people together while she wishes to remain single. She got 2 friends, Pinkey (Ira Dubey, a modern girl worried about her looks and the single status) and Shefali (Amrita Puri, a village girl who is fascinated with the glamour of the society ladies). Aisha is all determined to match Randhir (Cyrus Sahukar) to Shefali where Randhir is more interested in Aisha. Arjun (Abhay Deol, a relative of Aisha and a businessman) is in the company of Aarti (Lisa Haydon, NRI return) but his mind is with Aisha. Arjun uses the blackmail of Aarti and Aisha fall into the hand of Dhruv (Arunoday Singh) for a counter blackmail. As you can assume, a mess of misunderstandings and confusions and betrayals with fun unfolds but it all lead to one predictable climax.

It took few minutes for me to get into the 'chick flick' genre, but sooner I started liking it. As soon as the movie helped me to get into the skin of characters, the situations were entertaining. By the time the interval was approaching the movie was giving a feel of a real comedy without the presence of any comedy artists. Brilliant I thought! However, after the interval, the film loses its pace and fails to keep the fun track intact. It started concentrating on telling a story, but it was all predictable from the very beginning. The pacing could have been better managed with addition of few more fun and editing some slow paced scenes. The second half is only half effective.

The characters, the back bone and lifeblood of the story and this movie are well penned. For one who chases the characters closely, Aisha is one character, strong and independent, but all others are shades of one character, the flirting and surrendering to the wishes of others. It is only the different mood of the modern (or old?) youth. In that sense, Shefali, Pinky and Aarti are one and the same. This is true for the boys too. Dhruv, Randhir, Arjun all are one and the same, who beam and flirt hiding their true emotions and boast claiming they do not know girls, but woman. The only different character is Saurabh (Anand Tiwari) remain true to his emotions and values but he is hardly in the picture. Through the characters or say the different faces of characters, the writer (s) tries to rip apart the mask society and individuals wear to make their and other's life miserable.

The movie is more western than Indian. The costumes, the sets, make ups, events and emotions are more western in approach than Indian. It may take some time to digest it for a bollywood film but true, it speaks Hindi.

Director (Rajshree Ojha) has done praise worthy job in recreating the era and characters in style. The selection of casts is perfect. Each actor suits the character well. She succeeds in getting best of the actors restricting to the scope of characters. Give good visuals as well and made sure that the movie is an entertainer to pass the message to people.

Sonam Kapoor is very good. Except for some make up worries and the costume embarrassment, she has done more than what I expected from her. Abhay Deol's character got only a limited scope but the versatile actor did his part well. Cyrus Sahukar got the next important role and he did that in style. Ira Dubey (who looks a slimmer version of Amrita Arora) is excellent. The surprise package however came in the form of Amrita Puri (whose looks are similar to Konkana Sen Sharma) who marveled with superb performance. Arunoday Singh and Lisa Haydon did their small roles in perfection, within the scope. Overall, performance is very good.

Cinematography of the movie varied from good to very good to excellent. At places it shown sparks of excellence, but at places it could have been better in angles and lighting.

Music of the film varied from good to very good. Choreography flows well with the song and the situation but the touch of genius is missing to limit it as just good.

Costume is one special attraction for the film. 'Let us strengthen the economy together' T shirt to the see it all in my back european fashion codes, each frame made sure to present variety of new fashion. No wonder the brands are listed before the reels got its roll, instead of end credits.

Art director too require special mention whose efforts are visible and made a difference.

The movie is watchable for: Fun (Light comedy), Woman oriented movie (Chick flick), Social message (Still relevant), Costumes (Purely for ladies), Music (Good) and the sets.

The movie does not have much for children. Also the movie didn't have much for people who expects heavy melodrama from movies. (Once the characters are established, the movie has a little or no story). The second half is very slow paced and disappoints a bit.

It is not a must watch kind movie, but a light entertainer which can make you feel good and relaxes your mind after a heavy day's work. Woman will like this movie better, and that too with their girl friends. Boys too may like it, preferably with their girl friendS.

My rating: 3.25 stars