The movie adaptation of Anuja Chauhan’s novel The Zoya Factor (2008), starring Dulquer Salmaan and Sonam Kapoor, will be released on April 5, 2019, the makers announced on Tuesday.
Directed by Abhishek Sharma (Tere Bin Laden, The Shaukeens), The Zoya Factor stars Salmaan as Indian cricket captain Nikhil Khoda and Sonam Kapoor as Zoya Singh, an advertising agent who ends up being a lucky charm for Nikhil and his team. The movie is yet to go into production. This is Salmaan and Kapoor’s first film together.
Now this one is really special for me! Introducing #ZoyaFactor a movie based on Anuja Chauhan’s bestseller. Releasing on April 5, 2019! Co-starring @sonamakapoor, directed by #AbhishekSharma. #AdlabsFilms @foxstarhindi pic.twitter.com/1dxzuYYysS
— dulquer salmaan (@dulQuer) March 13, 2018
The filmmaker told Ahmedabad Mirror in an interview that Salmaan and Kapoor were his first choice for the film. “In the book, Nikhil is from the North but in our film, he hails from the South but speaks good Hindi,” Abhishek Sharma told the tabloid. “Cricket woven into a rom-com and touching on superstition and luck, it’s an amazing book for a screen adaptation.”
In Chauhan’s book, Zoya was born in 1983, when India won its first cricket World Cup. Sharma’s movie shifts the events to 2011, when India lifted the trophy for the second time, and the location from Delhi to Mumbai, the director told Ahmedabad Mirror.