Rating: 2.5/5 

Cast: Dulquer Salmaan, Sonam Kapoor, Sanjay Kapoor, Angad Bedi and Sikander Kher Director: Abhishek Sharma

Story: 

The Zoya Factor is the story of an average girl, Zoya Solanki (Sonam Kapoor.)  Born on the day India won the Cricket World Cup in 1983, she is considered lucky for the Indian Cricket Team by her father Vijayendra Singh Solanki (Sanjay Kapoor.)  However, Zoya doesn’t have any stroke of luck in real life.  She gets dumped by her boyfriend and has an unimpressed boss at work. 

Zoya’s luck changes when she is sent to shoot an ad with the Indian Cricket Team and meets the hardworking Captain of the Team, Nikhil Khoda (Dulquer Salmaan) and his overly superstitious team members.  After accidentally narrating her luck factor story, she quickly becomes the Team’s lucky charm, much to Khoda’s annoyance.  However, destiny has something different in store for Zoya and Nikhil and the rest of the movie is about how these opposite personalities fall for each other.

Review: 

Perhaps the only good thing about this Abhishek Sharma directorial is its lead actor, Dulquer Salmaan.  Dulquer, as the focused and hardworking Nikhil Khoda, gives a brilliant performance and stands out, thanks to his amazing acting skills.  His romance with Sonam Kapoor is quite convincing. Sonam Kapoor, however, tries to channel her Khoobsurat persona in the movie, which misses its mark at places.  The movie tries hard to discuss whether luck plays any role when it comes to success and if believing in superstitions is a good idea.  However, the message of the film gets lost somewhere due to the average execution.

The script of the film has nothing good to offer and lacks creativity.  The jokes throughout the movie fall flat and the second part of the film is hard to sit through.  Another factor in the film which could prove to be a turn off while watching The Zoya Factor is the extent of product placement, like the excessive mention of Nerolac and Dairy Milk throughout the film.

The Zoya Factor is the kind of movie one can easily miss.

What are you thoughts about The Zoya Factor?  Comment below and let us know.

Comments

Ayushmann Khurrana’s next project, Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan, finally found its second leading man.  Khurrana, who will be portraying the role of a gay man in the movie, will be seen romancing The Viral Fever’s Jitendra Kumar. 

Jitendra Kumar is a well known face on Indian digital media platforms and appeared in many web sketches like Kota Factory.

Jitendra’s casting was announced by Ayushmann Khurrana with a teaser.  The 1 minute teaser saw the animated version of the cast playing the Kaali Gobi Cup.  The teaser then goes on to introduce Gajraj Rao as Shankar Tripathi, Neena Gupta as Sunaina Tripathi, Pankhuri Awasthy as Kusum, Jitendra Kumar as Aman Tripathi, Ayushmann Khurrana as Kartik Singh, Manurishi Chaddha as Chaman Tripathi, Sunita Rajwar as Champa Tripathi, Maanvi Gagroo as Goggle Tripathi and Neeraj Singh as Keshav.

Written and directed by Hitesh Kewalya, Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan is a sequel to the 2017 film Shubh Mangal Saavdhan.  The movie is produced by Bhushan Kumar and Aanand L. Rai, under their banners T-Series and Colour Yellow Productions respectively.  Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan is slated to hit theaters on March 13th, 2020.

Comments

Bollywood’s most prestigious award ceremony, the IIFA (International Indian Film Academy) Awards, was held on September 18th 2019 at Mumbai’s Dome, NSCI, SVP Stadium.  The 20th IIFA Awards 2019 saw many well known names of the film industry in attendance. 

Actress Alia Bhatt won the Best Actress Award for her critically acclaimed role in spy film Raazi.  Her film Raazi won the award for Best Film at the ceremony.  For his portrayal of the villainous Alauddin Khilji in Padmaavat, Ranveer Singh won the Best Actor Award.

National Award winner Vicky Kaushal won the Best Supporting Actor Award for Sanju, the biopic about Sanjay Dutt.  Aditya Rao Hydari won the award for Best Supporting Actress for Padmaavat.  The Best Director Award went to Sriram Raghavan for his film Andhadhun.  Sara Ali Khan and Ishaan Khatter bagged the Best Debut Female Award and the Best Debut Male Award for their films Kedarnath and Dhadak respectively. 

In order to celebrate 20 years of the awards, IIFA also presented special awards to various celebrities.  Actress Deepika Padukone won the Special Award for Best Actress for her role in Chennai Express.  Meanwhile, Ranbir Kapoor won the Special Award for Best Actor for Barfi.  Rajkumar Hirani won the Special Award for Best Director for the movie 3 Idiots, while Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai won the Special Award as the Best Film of the Last 20 Years.

Veteran choreographer Saroj Khan was honoured with the Outstanding Contribution to Indian Cinema Award, while comedian Jagdeep, known for his roles in films like Sholay and Andaz Apna Apna, was given with a special award for his contribution to Hindi cinema.

Comments

The trailer of the Rajkummar Rao starrer Made In China was released by its makers.  The trailer follows the life of a struggling Gujarati businessman Raghuvir Mehta, who goes on a journey to China in order to grow his business.  The trailer shows Raghuvir Mehta’s various “jugads” to turn himself into a successful entrepreneur.

The film is directed by Mikhil Musale, whose Gujarati film Wrong Side Raju won a National Film Award in 2016.  To prepare for the film, Rajkummar Rao reportedly spent a month in Ahmedabad to learn the language and culture of the place and even gained weight for his role.

Mikhil Musale praised Rajkummar Rao for his effort and said, “When he signed on to be part of the film, he was already thinking ahead and making mental notes about what aspects he will need to work on to ace his characterisation.”

Inspired by the Chinese film Dying To Survive, Made in China is directed by Mikhil Musale and produced by Dinesh Vijan, under Maddocks Film.  Apart from Rajkummar Rao, the movie also stars Mouni Roy, Boman Irani, Sumeet Vyas and Amyra Dastur in lead roles.  The movie will be released on October 25th, 2019.

Comments

According to reports, the makers of Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 finalised actress Kiara Advani as the leading lady of the upcoming movie.  Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 will be the sequel to the 2007 Akshay Kumar starrer Bhool Bhulaiyaa.  The upcoming movie will see Kartik Aaryan play the role of an Indian ghostbuster.

Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 will mark the second collaboration between Kiara Advani and T-Series, after the hit Kabir Singh.  The shooting of the film is expected to begin in October and the cast will begin reading sessions before the first schedule. 

Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 is co produced by Bhushan Kumar, Murad Khetani and Krishan Kumar, under their banners T-Series and Cine1 Studios.  

Apart from Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, Kiara Advani has a long list of big budget movies lined up.  Kiara will be seen in Akshay Kumar’s upcoming films Good News and Laxmmi Bomb.  She will also star alongside Sidharth Malhotra in the upcoming film Shershaah. 

While Good News is scheduled to hit theaters on December 27th 2019, Laxmmi Bomb and Shershaah will be released in 2020.  On the other hand, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 is expected to release on July 31st, 2020 and will clash with Shamshera, Ranbir Kapoor’s much awaited movie.

Comments