Film
Aisha
Aisha is a Delhi-set romantic comedy about a meddling matchmaker who meddles her way into catastrophe. It's a loose, Bollywood riff on *Emma*, all bright colours and champagne hangovers, with genuine warmth beneath the scheming. For anyone who loves watching clever people sabotage their own lives through kindness.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you enjoy a glossy, bright comedy of manners where vanity and meddling drive everything, and you like your romance sly, colourful and a bit cutting about its own heroine.
Skip it if you want a tight, fast plot, since this one lingers over parties, outfits and small social slights at a leisurely pace across over two hours.
What it asks of you: Roughly two hours of patience with bright, chattering scenes that favour mood and banter over momentum; you stay engaged by enjoying the company rather than chasing a plot.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Emma.2020
Amy Elphinton's adaptation captures the same tonal balance: comedy that doesn't mock its heroine, romance that earns its weight, and a protagonist so lovably insufferable you forgive everything by the end.
But It's very English, very Austen—if you want Bollywood sparkle rather than Regency restraint, this won't scratch that itch.
Pyaar Ke Side Effects2006
Another Delhi rom-com with Cyrus Sahukar that shares Aisha's warmth and slightly messy charm. It understands how love comedies work when they're actually about friendship first.
But The pacing meanders; it's happy to linger where another film would quicken. That's its heart, but it demands patience.
Dostana2008
Priyanka Chopra and Abhishek Bachchan in a Manhattan rom-com that's interested in its characters as people, not plot devices. Fizzy, funny, and surprisingly tender about loneliness.
But The premise—two men pretending to be a couple—occasionally plays it broader than it should. Some jokes land harder than others.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Aisha
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Clueless1995
Both are loose, deliberate adaptations of *Emma* that relocate Austen's central character—the confident meddler—into a very specific world (Delhi society, Beverly Hills hierarchy) without losing the source's DNA.
The American *Emma* that inspired Aisha's DNA. Teen Beverly Hills instead of Delhi society, but the same character blueprint: a well-meaning interferer learning that the world doesn't bend to kindness alone. Alicia Silverstone is radiant.
But 1995 fashion and slang have calcified into period costume. If anachronism breaks immersion, you'll spend the film in a museum.
More like this (8)
Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na2008
A Delhi college rom-com that finds real emotion in its comedy; Imran Khan and Genelia D'Souza have the kind of chemistry that makes you believe in the chaos. Endlessly rewatchable.
But It's unapologetically frothy. If you need weightier material, this will feel like candy floss.
Ae Dil Hai Mushkil2016
Karan Johar's film about unrequited love and friendship has the same self-aware tone and the same willingness to let characters hurt each other by accident. It earns its melodrama.
But It's almost three hours, and the second half trades comedy for ache. Some find that imbalance frustrating.
Cocktail2012
A Delhi-London rom-com with Deepika Padukone and Saif Ali Khan that understands the particular loneliness of being the matchmaker everyone relies on. Glossy, but genuinely smart about modern love.
But The third act pivots hard into melodrama. If you're watching for the lightness, it abandons you.
I Hate Luv Storys2010
Sonam Kapoor's other 2010 rom-com, this one's a Delhi film-set love story that's breezy and genuinely funny about the contradictions of being young and in love in the city.
But It's slight. There's no real weight to it, which is fine for the mood, but you won't think about it afterward.
Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai2002
Sonam's mother Sunita Kapoor appears in this ensemble Delhi rom-com about friends orchestrating a wedding. It has the same good-natured chaos that Aisha loves.
But It's a product of 2002 Bollywood: the humour sometimes lands sideways, and pacing is uneven.
Band Baaja Baaraat2010
Released the same year as Aisha, this Delhi film about two wedding planners genuinely invests in character and has a lightness that honours both comedy and romance equally.
But It's more focused on business ambition than matchmaking chaos; the tone is slightly more grounded, less bright.
Murder Mystery2019
Both centre a woman whose meddling spirals into genuine harm, but this one refuses to make it charming. Where Aisha forgives itself, this film sits with the wreckage and asks if women's 'helping' can be as dangerous as any malice.
A Marathi-language film about an engaged woman accidentally murdering her fiancé's alleged former lover. Like Aisha, it's about a woman convinced she's helping and instead creating catastrophe—but it's a thriller, not a rom-com, so the consequences are actually dark.
But Finding a Marathi film with subtitles takes effort, and the tonal whiplash—from rom-com logic to actual murder—will alienate viewers expecting cosy chaos.
Dil Dhadakne Do2015
Both are Delhi-set films obsessed with circles of friends and families, but this one asks what those circles cost. Where Aisha ends with apology and forgiveness, this film lingers on permanent fracture.
An ensemble Bollywood drama about a wealthy Delhi family on a cruise that falls apart. It has Aisha's Delhi-set glamour and its ensemble chaos, but it's serious about what happens when selfishness and meddling collide. Ranveer Singh and Priyanka Chopra anchor genuine emotion.
But At 150 minutes, it's a ship full of people's problems. The density exhausts some viewers; it won't scratch a lightweight rom-com itch.
People
Cast
Sonam Kapoor AhujaAisha
Abhay DeolArjun Burman
Cyrus SahukarRandhir Ghambir
Arunoday SinghDhruv Singh
Ira DubeyPinky Bose
Amrita PuriShefali Thakur
Lisa HaydonAarti Menon- Yuri SuriCol. Singh
M. K. RainaMr. Kapoor
Anand TiwariSaurabh Lamba
Kunal RawalGulshan Gambhir
Directing
- Rajshree OjhaDirector
Writing
- Devika BhagatDialogue
- Jane AustenNovel
- Javed AkhtarScreenplay
Production
- Anil KapoorProducer