The Zoya Factor movie review: Unique concept wasted due to poor execution

The Zoya Factor has a unique and potent concept, but the makers of the film fail to capitalise on it to the fullest, thanks to silly screenplay and over-the-board drama.

STORYLINE

Zoya Solanki (Sonam Kapoor), a junior copy-writer from an ad agency, is believed to be a lucky charm by her family as Indian cricket team had won its first World Cup the day she was born.

This superstition remained inside her family until she told about her "lucky charm" magic to members of the current Indian team, led by Captain Nikhil Khoda (Dulquer Salmaan) while having breakfast with them. Although none of them paid attention to her words when she said everyone who takes breakfast with her gets lucky, things get serious after Indian team actually wins a match for the first time after scores of defeats.

Many of the players start believing that Zoya is indeed their "lucky charm" as they continue to win every match when they take breakfast with her, and strangely lose it when Zoya is not around. Meanwhile, Nikhil, who does not believe in such superstitions, and Zoya fall in love with each other.

This "lucky charm" business takes a major turn when the Indian cricket board gets to know about this "Zoya factor", and offers her Rs 1 crore to be the team's lucky mascot during the world cup. However, there lies a major conspiracy behind making this offer, which eventually not only disturbs thee couple's relationship, but also puts Nikhil's captaincy in jeopardy.

A lot of drama follows until India reaches the world cup finals. To know what ultimately happens to team India's world cup dream and the couple's relationship, you need to watch the film.

PERFORMANCES

Sonam Kapoor as a naïve but ambitious girl looks cute in most of the frames, but sadly she overacts in many of the sequences. Dulquer Salmaan does a relatively better job and looks charming too. Angad Bedi as a wicked member of the team plays the antagonist's role well. Other supporting case including Sikander Kher, Sanjay Kapoor, and others did a decent job.

POSITIVES

The Zoya Factor has an unconventional storyline, displaying a cute love story and at the same time showcasing a different drama in the cricket world. There are not many songs to distract the plot. Some of the dialogues are good.

NEGATIVES

The movie lacks a mature screenplay. The characters and certain instances in the film look too unreal and silly. First half of the film is monotonous.

VERDICT

The Zoya Factor is a film with a unique concept but the director fails to make the best out of it. It lacks a mature screenplay, and good humour. Overall, an okay film that can be watched if you don't have anything better to do.