Aisha

Starring Sonam Kapoor, Abhay Deol, Amrita Puri, Ira Dubey, Cyrus Shahukar, Arunoday Singh

Directed by Rajshree Ojha

The thing about shallow people from the beau monde is that they shouldn’t be played shallowly when brought to the screen.

Sonam Kapoor in a ‘tailor’- made role (where more moolah seems to have been spent on tailoring her chic outfits than on exploring the locations , sound sights scents and , yes, sense of this embarrassing world of excessive self-preening) gets the Jane Austen character right. Quite a leap for the actress.

When she had played the confused lover-girl in Saawariya Sonam had imposed her own natural-born confusions on the character rendering it shaky and disembodied.

In Aisha Sonam is far more in control of her character’s misguided emotional compulsions. The fact that the young actress knows this label-centric designer world of chic shenanigans so well helps Sonam master and contour her character’s art of self-deception in a way the original author of the character would have approved.

Aisha opens to a mixed response

The chick-flick Aisha toplining Abhay Deol and Sonam Kapoor, that released last week, opened to a mixed response.
Trade analyst Taran Adarsh said, “The film was received well at multiplexes with 70 to 80 per cent occupancy on Friday.
However, the response at single-screens and small centres was dull, with the opening being in the range of 20 per cent to 25 per cent.”
This was corroborated by Prakhar Joshi, Head of Programming, PVR Cinemas, who said, “The film has taken a good opening.
It has collected about Rs 2.45 crore across the country. Our multiplexes in South Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai have opened with almost 90 per cent occupancy over the weekend. Compared to this, Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai collected Rs 1.2 crore in the same period.”

Sonam Kapoor : Imran is sexy

The joshing and joking between Imran Khan and Sonam Kapoor only goes to show that they are the next hot couple of Bollywood. Moreover, the duo has got a thumbs-up from critics as well. Their chemistry is the USP of this Friday release I Hate Luv Storys. No wonder they can’t stop complimenting one another, when they are not pulling each other’s leg, that is.
In a latest report, Sonam says that when she first saw Imran in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, she found him “hot”. She loved his ripe lips and Maybelline eyelashes. But Imran is quite dismissive about himself. He doesn’t think he’s sexy. “I think he is (sexy). In fact, Imran is gorgeous,” Sonam is quoted as saying. However, Sonam was quick to add that she likes John Abraham’s butt better. Well, now Imran has something to work on.

Hollywood calling Sonam Kapoor

Anil Kapoor wooed Hollywood. And now it is his daughter Sonam to be wooed by the west. She has been offered two Hollywood films in the space of six months.

Says a source, "While in LA, Anil met Ben Stiller to exchange ideas for a production company they want to launch together for a joint production.

During one such talk, the actor told him about his home production Aisha, starring his elder daughter. Ben asked to see the film's show reel as he was casting for.

The role of Kate for his production house's (Red Hour Films) 30 million dollar film. Titled 30 Minutes Or Less, it is directed by Reuben Fleischer.

And stars Jesse Eisenberg and Danny MacBride. After Stiller saw the show reel, he sent an e-mail to Anil saying he thought Sonam was 'fantastic' and that he wanted to cast her."

Anil's business manager Udayan confirms, "Yes, Sonam has been offered 30 Minutes Or Less and we are working out the dates.

It looks a bit difficult because of her tight schedule as she's shooting for Thank You with Akshay Kumar and Mausam with Shahid Kapoor and promoting her next release Aisha but we are still trying to work it out."

That isn't all. Within a month of Anil's return to India, he got a call for another offer for his beti. This time from Edoardo Ponti (son of Sophia Loren and Carlo Ponti's) who just announced a new project called Das and wants to cast the IHLS girl. The film would be made in India.

Says a source close to Anil, "Father and daughter are very clear about their strategy. Sonam is already committed to three releases this year -- Aisha and Mausam and Thank You. These also include promotion for Aisha. These are commitments made earlier and no big film can come in the way of that unless the projects are really exceptional."