Sonam Kapoor, Rhea Kapoor, Amrita Puri, Arunoday Singh, Rajshree Ojha, Ira Dubey, Cyrus Sahukar and Lisa Haydon were all excited as they spoke about their much talked-about film Aisha

On Aisha - The movie
Rhea: Aisha was a fun movie to make. It is basically a journey of young people. It’s about that time in their lives when they all want to meet the one they love. Everybody gets to that stage in life, especially girls. They worry about finding the right guy and getting married. Their constant refrain is "I don’t have a boyfriend. I’m single". How would you know who is your soul-mate? Basically, it means finding your reflection in somebody else and for that you have to grow up, Otherwise you’ll never find the ideal person meant for you. If Emma doesn’t understand who she is, then she’ll never find the guy.

Putting Aisha together
Sonam: Emma was my favourite novel. So when Rajshree told me that she had written a script on it, I immediately said that we should meet the next day to discuss it. Rajshree is from America and she had this presentation and a bound script. On seeing that I asked her if I could read this script and take a copy for my sister. We read it and loved it. I always had Emma in my mind and I told her that I wanted my dad to produce it. So I messaged Rhea and she said, “Let’s speak to dad.”
Rhea: I put a copy of the script in dad's briefcase when he was travelling and he said he’ll read it on the flight. But he kept postponing it and when he finally did, he had tears in his eyes. The first thing he told me was, “Aisha is so much like Sonam.” That set the stage. But then we had to get the rest of the cast together. After we signed them and the actors came on board they didn’t seem like they are there for comic relief. It is not the typical set-up. There are layers to each character.

Perfect choice, wrong vibes
Cyrus: I had the weirdest meeting with Rajshree that lasted for five minutes. Rajshree saw me and said I had a lot of faults. She was like "I don't know if I like you but I feel you are perfect for it". After that I realised that though things were working in my favour, I was sending out the wrong vibes.

Sibling bonding
Sonam: Rhea had a tough time as the producer of the film. A producer's job is very difficult and the director needs to understand that. Rajshree and Rhea worked well together. My sister was the producer of the film but after a point of time I realised that as an actor I have to do my job. Though I make it a point to voice my opinion on matters regarding the film, with Rhea it was different. I didn't have to be formal and did not have to mince words.
Rhea: It is just the nature of voicing your views, Had it been someone else, Sonam would have probably said, " Sir, I don't think this works," but with me Sonam would be like,"Rhea, this sucks". So that was the basic difference. If you are doing a project you don't want it to suck. If you have guts and believe in what you say, you talk no matter who the producer is.

The journey from Emma to Aisha
Rajeshree: Aisha is a romantic comedy. I thought it was a very relevant idea and was very Indian. When you go to a few places in America, they are very Indian in their outlook towards love and marriage. I came back and read Emma and showed it to Devika, my scriptwriter. It took me four-and-a-half years to write the script but just 60 days to shoot the film.
Aisha the fashionista

Rhea: When Rajshree first came to me with the film, she said Emma and Aisha both are 'it' girls. And by 'it' girls I mean the ones who dress well with perfect accessories and outfits. And in today's world girls take care of themselves. If you look at a girl, she would always want to be dressed well and well turned-out. Every girl wants to be a Kate Moss. Fashion is very important part of a girl’s life. Obviously to an extent, Rajshree did say that fashion should not overwhelm the content, not take over the story, but a lot of emphasis is on fashion. I would have gone berserk and said that the girls should be dressed in Fedora hats but Rajshree was like “No, we need to make the characters look realistic.”
Rajshree: Aisha is the perfect girl. To me, she has the perfect dress, the perfect shoes and the perfect bag. She doesn't have to be pretentious. Pinky, Aisha's best friend, wears outrageous clothes but they are just a part of her character. Eventually she is just a character, its a part of the world she lives in.

Rhea: Aisha wants everything to be perfect. She is someone who has grown up without a mom so everything in her house is her own. Her bed linen, her drapes, her kitchen - everything is set up by her. It is like a doll-house. It is an extension of her character and which is why she is trying to match-make all the time.

Ira: One important thing about the film is that nothing is fake, everything is realistic. For instance, they don't wear designer clothes and bags when they go rafting. The styling in the film is good but not over-the-top.

Rajshree: It is just the outer layer, the content is of utmost important to me.
Shooting in Delhi

Rhea: It is unfortunate but when you belong to a certain caste and class you automatically look for someone from the same group. It is sad but it still exists, and Delhi is the perfect example of it. It is there in Mumbai also. But Mumbai is more Bollywood dominated. It is a notion that the cool places people hang out in are places that Katrina Kaif and Sonam Kapoor frequent. But I think it is totally uncool and unfortunate.

Sonam: Did you just call me uncool?
Rhea: Yes, I did (snaps). Delhi is the perfect place to set the film in since Aisha is not a star-struck girl. She cares about the society. It really works and fits.

Emma in 2010
Rhea: Today girls in Delhi and Mumbai have a very traditional outlook. Though they surf the Internet, roam around with boyfriends and lie to their parents, the only thing that pricks them is the guilt. That is really important in Aisha also. The girls want to have fun, they want to do everything in life but they also have choices to make and a conscience to answer. They will be like,"I have to find the one soulmate".

Fashion in Aisha
Rhea: Nobody aspires to wear that garish bright pink colour bra that we see today in “item” numbers. It is good to see people dress well. You want to express yourself through your clothes. I want to be sophisticated enough to wear clothes like Aarti (Lisa Haydon), to wear accessories like Aisha and that is what you aspire to be like. I will never think that I want to wear this short denim skirt and show my ass. Whatever their character is it comes out through the clothes. Even the guys wear good clothes. Not every belt and shoe has an emblem on it like DG or Gucci. The whole look has been put together well. I don't think there is any fashion statement, the culture and the characters are reflected more.

Acting woes
Rhea: I have decided to never get in front of the camera. I don't think I am going to make it especially after Namrata Soni, my make-up artist said that I can never become an actress. She said, "You can’t sit still for 10 minutes in my make-up room, you are the most irritating child.” I get so irritated, I don't like someone else touching my face, I get really harrowed and I don't have the patience to sit through it.