Bollywood witnessed a rather rare literary adaptation in Aisha back in 2010. The film, which released on this date (August 06), was inspired by Jane Austen’s
beloved 1815 drawing room novel Emma. But unlike traditional period dramas Bollywood is known for, Aisha transported Jane Austen’s story into the heart of a glossy, affluent, post-liberalisation Delhi. You might remember Aisha for its trend-setting tunes including Lehrein, Suni Aisha or Gal Mitthi Mitthi among others but what the film more befittingly did was reimagine Emma Woodhouse – the protagonist of the Austen novel as Aisha Kapoor (Sonam Kapoor) – a privileged, fashion forward, young woman navigating the vagaries of love and matchmaking in an elite society. The film, is nothing else, remains a fascinating lens on contemporary Indian urban cityscape, interspersed with shades of class, gender and consumerism. I remember, during my days as a young undergraduate student, our English faculty HOD mentioning that what Victorians wrote a hundred years back is what Indian modern society is in contemporary times. As an extension, Aisha felt relevant in the way it illustrates how a distinctly British 19th-century story finds new life amid India’s economic boom and changing social dynamics, perspectives.
Jane Austen’s Emma: Blueprint For Aisha
To understand Aisha, one perhaps needs a little lesson in literary history. At its core, Emma is a comedy of manners which follows the eponymous heroine – a wealthy and headstrong young woman who fancies herself a matchmaker. Our Victorian heroine’s well-meaning but mostly misguided efforts to pair her friends with suitable partners, all the while neglecting her own romantic prospects act as the basis of the novel’s wit and social commentary. Emma scrutinises issues of class, privilege and gender roles in Regency England (the era known for its elegance, social excesses, and flourishing of art and literature – and of course the rise of Austen and Romanticism).
Also Read: What If Hum Aapke Hain Koun...! Was Made Today?
Almost two centuries after Emma was released, Aisha borrows the narrative architecture employed by Austen and refracts it through a 21st century prism showcasing the fractured Indian elite urban milieu.
Delhi: A City of Contrasts In Aisha
While the timeline of Aisha is never specifically mentioned, India’s economic liberalisation in the nineties transformed the country’s economy and social fabric. By the 2000’s (the probable timeline depicted in the film), the urban cityscape had emerged as new playgrounds for a blooming affluent class comprising of young professionals, entrepreneurs and heirs to family wealth. These were people who had just started getting immersed in global consumer culture, yet were still deeply rooted in Indian traditions and values.
Sonam Kapoor’s Aisha captures this world of excess vividly – from designer labels, chic parties and an obsession over appearances – Delhi is portrayed as a city of privilege and social performance where wealth and social standing govern interactions as much as personal compatibility. And much like the Austen-ian Emma, matchmaking itself becomes an elite pastime – a kind of a social sport which is embedded in the social tapestry itself
Sonam Kapoor’s Aisha - The Modern Emma
At the centre of it all is Sonam Kapoor’s Aisha, a modern day Indianised Emma, who much like the heroine is privileged, confident, and fiercely opinionated. What has changed, however, is her milieu, which adds new dimensions to her character.
Aisha is an embodiment of the urban girl archetype, who invests as much effort in her wardrobe as she puts into social interventions. The film puts a lot of emphasis on style and consumerism, reflective of Delhi’s rising youth culture, where identity and consumption are inseparable.
Also Read: I Loved Saiyaara, But My Oxford Year Broke Me — In A Good Way
However, Aisha’s attempts at matchmaking also expose her gullibility and sense of entitlement, echoing Emma’s flaws but recast for a generation still circumnavigating the blurring lines between tradition and modernity. Unlike the drawing room atmosphere of Austen’s genteel English countryside, Aisha’s Delhi is fast-paced and conspicuously competitive.
Aisha’s Matchmaking as Social Currency
Aisha’s currency is in her matchmaking skills. It is almost a means of social positioning. In a society where arranged marriages are still a part of the social landscape, Aisha updates it by framing it within elite circles obsessed with image and choice. Sonam Kapoor’s Aisha tends to pair off friends based on her perception of their personalities and social advantages rather than romantic chemistry. The film, in many ways, is a scathing critique of this superficiality, which in itself is a extension of the microcosmic consumer culture’s commodification of relationships.
Matchmaking also becomes a metaphor for control and agency, where Aisha’s attempt at pairing off her friends also echo her internal struggle to define her own identity with societal expectations. Aisha, is actually a beautiful study in free will and social obligation as well, which to an extent, honestly echoes the sensibility of Austen’s novel.
Gender Politics in Aisha
Sonam Kapoor’s Aisha also reframes Austen’s gender politics for contemporary India. The female leads are empowered, articulate and independent, while still navigating old-school patriarchal constraints. And much like Emma, Aisha too wields social power, but the film exposes the limits of her influence as well. Her misguided readings of others’ feelings underscore how gendered expectation shape social interactions in a radically changing India. On the contrary, the male lead, Arjun Burman (Abhay Deol), embodies a quieter, more grounded masculinity that contrasts with Aisha’s flamboyance.
Also Read: Saiyaara Is Our Chicken Soup For The Indian Soul; Thank You Mohit Suri
What modernises Aisha is that unlike Emma, whose privilege shields her from consequences, our heroine must confront her mistakes and evolve – nod to changing perceptions of womanhood in urban India. While Aisha retains Austen’s themes of class, romance, and social manoeuvring, What however, remains true to the original is how Aisha maintains Austen’s sharp critique of social posturing and human folly, proving that these concerns remain universal.
Aisha is A Cultural Mirror: Then And Now
Fifteen years have passed since the release of Aisha, but it remains a fascinating artefact in the world of cinema. Aisha is a film that gives a tangential voice to the hopes, contradictions and anxieties of a post-liberal Indian youth. By Indianising Emma, the film shares light on how a global narrative can be recast to explore contemporary Indian identities, class stratifications, and consumer culture. Garbed in the attire of a romantic comedy, Aisha actually remains a social commentary on how love, friendship and social capitalism play out in the Indian metropolis – a theme that remains relative.
