Aisha

Rajshree Thakur's "Aisha" is an entertaining if somewhat scattered adaptation of Jane Austen's "Emma," transplanted to the glittering world of Delhi's privileged elite. Sonam Kapoor brings infectious energy to the titular character—a well-meaning meddler wrapped in designer labels and romantic delusion—and there's genuine chemistry between her and Abhishek Bachchan's Arjun, even if their arc feels predictable from the opening frames. The film's strongest asset is its refusal to take itself too seriously; it embraces the frothy, gossip-magazine texture of its world without pretense. However, the screenplay struggles with tonal inconsistency, oscillating between sharp social observation and melodramatic tangents, and several supporting characters—particularly poor Shefali—feel more like plot devices than fully realized people affected by Aisha's meddling.

What ultimately undermines "Aisha" is its failure to dig deeper into the central thesis. Unlike Austenian adaptations such as Clueless or even the more recent interpretations, this film doesn't interrogate the moral weight of Aisha's interference or the vulnerability beneath her privilege with any real consequence. The romantic revelation with Randhir (Atul Kulkarni) should feel like a genuine blindside that forces self-reckoning, but it plays more as a plot convenience than a character reckoning. Kapoor's eventual humbling feels superficial—a rom-com requirement rather than earned growth. The film works as a lighthearted dat