Aisha is a 2-hour celebration of pre-nuptial rituals. Though no one says it, every girl in the picture wants only one thing. And it isn’t necessarily love, but somewhere close. The bristle and bustle of Delhi come alive through the slender intellectual faculties of the protagonists. Let’s not forget Jane Austen had applied great intellectual strength to her frail and shallow people. Aisha converts Austen’s world into a frail, feisty, frolicsome fashion fiesta shot with an empowering affection for the natural light that bathes these somewhat affected people. The cinematography by Diego Rodriguez and especially the songs and background music by Amit Trivedi create a multi-hued skyline in this saga of sophomore socialites, their loves, lovers and love tattle.
Debutant director Rajshree Ojha gets into this world of titillating trivia and designer dreams with a wink and smile that go a long way in building a showcase around these metropolitan mannequins on a single-minded match-making prowl. The casting is as dead-on as it can get. While the guys Abhay Deol, Cyrus Sahukar and Arunoday Singh play the Brain, Nerd and Hunk with absolute relish, it’s the girls who keep you chuckling and tch-tch-ing.
Director Rajshri Ojha spoke to Subhash K Jha on 15 years of Aisha. “I feel it’s only like yesterday that I made this film. Really, really proud of it, I think I’m a proud parent. I meet a lot of people, even today, who come up to me and say you made Aisha. I loved that film. A lady came up to me and said, ‘I was pregnant when I saw your film and now my daughter is 7 and she’s seen it too. She’s loving it. ’So it’s quite a nice thing.”
Aisha featured an impossibly eclectic cast, Sonam Kapoor, Abhay Deol, Cyrus Sahukar, Arunodoy Singh, Lisa Haydon, Ira Dubey….
Says Ojha, “I think they have all grown up and they’ve moved on. I’m still in touch with Ira and Cyrus, and I’m so happy that I’ve worked with them. I brought them back again as a couple. I feel like they’re my lucky mascot somehow. All of them, I think, have kind of grown up or are doing good work. I feel like everybody stood out in the film, and they kind of made them believable. I feel like characters that still live in a lot of people’s minds, they still come up to me and say, Oh, I love it. I love the way the look of film was, or I love the, you know, it’s still very fresh in their minds. I wish we made more films like this because I think the world has gone and suffered so much with COVID and many things. I think we need a little bit of hope and fun and a little fruity, something light but also inspiring. Somehow, I think literature always does that. I think Jane Austen kind of gave me that. Aisha to me has always been my first love.”
The director feels Aisha should be re-released. “I think it was way ahead of its time, going back to how it was received. I think if it had been released now, I think it would be received with much more love. I think it would have garnered much more buzz. It had not created that craze then.I think now it would have created much more. I think it was way a little ahead of its time. But I still think people remember it and watch it for, you know, when they watch it with their kids or whatever. I think that’s what makes that film evergreen. I think it’s based on literature, and literature never goes out of style. I think that’s what makes that film special. I think even as a viewer, now I have a much more distance of time. So, the way it has a very Barbie-like feel, it kind of has a timelessness attached to it. I think that way, I am very proud of it. I wish it was received much better then, but I think it has held its own; it has its own cult following. And for me, that is what it is, and I’m proud of it. And I hope to make another one like that soon. Thank you so much for remembering.”
