Zoya Solanki is a copywriter working with an ad agency. She is said to have born at the same moment on 25 June 1983 when India won their first Cricket World Cup. However, this ‘luck’ doesn’t reflect in her personal life. In order to shoot an ad, she gets an opportunity to join the Indian cricket team touring Sri Lanka. Coincidentally, the Indian team that was struggling for months starts winning whenever Zoya has her breakfast with them.
However, these things don’t have an effect on Nikhil Khoda, the skipper of the Indian team, who still believes in hard work and discipline. Now who has an upper hand – Zoya’s luck or Nikhil’s belief in hardwork, you have to watch the film to learn about it.
Based on the book of the same name, ‘The Zoya Factor’ stars Sonam Kapoor and Dulquer Salmaan in principal roles, supported by Sikander Kher, Sanjay Kapoor, Manu Rishi Chadha and Angad Bedi.
What’s Wrong –
If one doesn’t take a pack of Saridon for this movie, one will develop a severe headache after watching the same. ‘The Zoya Factor’ is not just bad, it is a pathetic adaptation of a book into a movie. There is no seriousness in acting or the screenplay of the movie. If you find a light rom com unable to bear before the interval itself, you know that something’s seriously wrong.
It is often noticed that in Bollywood, most of the movie adaptations haven’t done justice to the original book. However, ‘The Zoya Factor’ has taken this to another level altogether. You won’t believe two things on seeing this movie – One, this movie was scripted by Anuja Chauhan herself, and two, the movie was directed by the same Abhishek Sharma who had given the left liberals massive burns with his take on the Pokhran nuclear tests of 1998, i.e. Parmanu. The comedy scenes might be relevant to today’s times, but they’re so off the mark that only South Bombay kids can laugh on them, not sure about the rest of India.
What’s Worse –
This film is so bad as compared to the original book that you’ll find Half Girlfriend [Yeah, you read that right], edition better than the same. That the film is so cut off from the reality is ascertained from the fact that Sonam Kapoor, who develops cold feet at the mere mention of Diwali, is seen bursting firecrackers in this movie.
The film wouldn’t have been that bad, if a diligent actress was chosen for this role. Whatever happened to Sonam Kapoor’s acting skills, if you manage to survive the overacting by Sonam in this movie, the so called attack on superstitions in this movie will make your blood boil even more. True that superstition is never acceptable in any society. However, the way it has been criticized, it is less of an attack on superstitions and more of a rude joke on Sanatan Dharma. In short, Agenda reigns Supreme! [AGENDA UNCHA RAHE HAMARA]
In this movie, everything is focused upon except Cricket. Everything is shown, but nothing leaves a mark you, even for a moment. The movie takes off to something interesting towards the end, but by then it is too late. Angad Bedi and Sikander Kher’s characters had some potential, but they were not given enough time.
Is there Anything Good? –
If the film has been saved from becoming a dreaded bore, it is ironically Dulquer Salmaan, and the feel good factor that runs throughout the movie. Despite the character being badly written, Dulquer tries hard to salvage the film on his own. There are some scenes, where the hard work shows as well. However, overall ‘The Zoya Factor’ is an offending slap on the face of writing, storytelling and filmmaking as well. To call this a movie is an insult to the genre of cinema itself. We’d rate this 1 from 5 stars.
