Sonam Kapoor says she, sister Rhea Kapoor were ‘bullied’ by some men in Bollywood while making Aisha

Sonam Kapoor said that she and Rhea Kapoor were ‘bullied’ by some men in Bollywood during the making of Aisha but they stood by each other through the process.

Sonam Kapoor said that she and her sister Rhea Kapoor were ‘bullied’ by some men in Bollywood while making Aisha. While Sonam played the titular role in the film, Rhea made her debut as a producer with it.

Sonam Kapoor (R) and Amrita Puri in a still from Aisha.

Aisha, directed by Rajshree Ojha, was loosely based on Jane Austen’s novel Emma. Sonam played a wealthy girl from Delhi who fancies herself as a matchmaker but her attempts to set her friends up with each other do not always go as planned.

During a Clubhouse session to mark 11 years of the release of Aisha, Sonam opened up about the challenges of making the film, and how she and Rhea found strength in each other. “As women, we don’t realise that there is more power in numbers. The way my sister (Rhea) and I were bullied through the process of making the film by some of the men in the industry made us realise when there are more of you together, it’s easier to stand up to things and give each other strength. So that is the one thing that was a takeaway from Aisha that I always knew my sister was my best friend,” she was quoted as saying by News 18.

Rhea talked about how Aisha got a lot of hate at first, and it was only after many years that it ‘became more accepted’. “What a lot of people don’t know about Aisha is that the film became more accepted and successful many years after its release. Gal Mithhi Mithhi Bol was the only thing that was outright successful. The film made a little bit of money, but received a lot of hate initially. People thought we made this film simply because we could, but the release of the film forced us both to grow up a lot,” she said.

Aisha also starred Abhay Deol, Ira Dubey, Amrita Puri, Arunoday Singh, Cyrus Sahukar and Lisa Haydon. The film was a semi-hit at the box office.