Review: 'Aisha' is all glam, no substance

Aisha
Director: Rajshree Ojha
Cast:  Sonam Kapoor, Abhay Deol, Ira Dubey, Arunoday Singh, Cyrus Shahukar, Lisa Haydon, Amrita Puri
Rating: **

Aisha is about a Delhi girl, Aisha (Sonam Kapoor), who loves to make matches of eligible girls and guys. Arjun (Abhay Deol), a Wharton alumni and an investment banker, likes Aisha but is convinced that she should mind her own business.

Aisha tries to ‘fix’ Shefali (debutante Amrita Puri) with Randhir Gambhir (Cyrus Sahukar), a dude whose dad runs the most popular chain of sweetmeat shops in Delhi. Shefali, from Bahadurgarh in Haryana, is like a behenji and so, Aisha and her reluctant bosom pal, Pinky (Ira Dubey), buy designer clothes, handbags and shoes for her.

But, instead of Shefali, Randhir becomes more gambhir about Pinky. Meanwhile, handsome hunk Dhruv Singh (Arunoday Singh) tries to woo Aisha but soon latches on to Aarti (Lisa Haydon) who till then looked like Arjun’s arm candy. Behenji revolts against Aisha and gets ready to settle down with the bhaisaheb-type BPO employee (Anand Tiwari). Suddenly, Aisha realises the futility of match-making and also that she loves Arjun (is it because there’s no one else left?). She professes her love for him, then he professes his love to her, prompting you to wonder why they had to wander between the Aartis and the Dhruvs of the world?

If Jane Austen were alive she woukd have sued Devika Bhagat for making a complete hotch-patch of her classic novel, Emma. Devika’s screenplay is scattered. Note some of the lapses: Arjun asks Dhruv, if he is serious about Aisha. What if Dhruv had said ‘yes’? Would the Wharton boy wack Dhruv then also? Doesn’t seem so because Arjun is only particular about guys not playing with Aisha’s emotions.

Again, Pinky’s and Shefali’s  outbursts against Aisha seem misdirected. After all, what wrong has Aisha done to deserve such a diarrohea of dialogues? What's with Aisha conceding defeat and concluding that matches can never be made? After all, half the arranged marriages even today are initiated by match-makers, whether official (like marriage bureaus) or unofficial (like Aisha herself). Also, Shefali is shown to be a behenji, but that’s more in the dialogues than in the visuals.

Even Aisha and Arjun’s climactic admission of their fondness for each other don’t ring true because the incidents they speak about have hardly been shown to the audience.

Abhay Deol looks lost in the chick flick. Sonam Kapoor dominates the show but what can she do in a half-baked script? Cyrus Sahukar is average and so is Arunoday Singh. Ira Dubey has her moments. Amrita Puri makes a confident debut. Lisa Haydon has style.

Debut director Rajshree Ojha has made a mess and she has only herself and her writer to blame. Amit Trivedi’s music is about the only really good thing. ‘Gal mitthi mitthi bol’ is the best number. Diego Rodriguez’s camerawork is alright but Sreekar Prasad’s editing isn’t.

Aisha was never meant for the single-screen and small-town audiences but it doesn't cut ice with the multiplex and city audience either. Flop! This may be gal kadvi kadvi bol, but that’s the bitter truth!