Sonam Kapoor plays the lead one of this week's big releases, The Zoya Factor. Based on a best-selling novel by the same name, The Zoya Factor merges some of the things that all Indians love - romance, comedy and cricket. Malayalam star Dulquer Salmaan is playing the male lead. Sonam takes on the role of a hard-on-luck advertising executive who becomes the lucky charm of a beaten-down Indian Cricket team. Dulquer Salmaan plays the captain of the team, who believes hard luck is the real good luck charm, though that doesn't stop him from falling for a bubbly Zoya. The Zoya Factor Movie Review: Dulquer Salmaan Is the Lucky Charm in This Sporadically Enjoyable Romcom With Sonam Kapoor.

The supporting cast includes Sanjay Kapoor, Angad Bedi, Sikandar Kher, Manu Rishi and Koel Purie. And there is one huge cameo. Before the movie came out, there were reports that Shah Rukh Khan might have a special appearance in the film. In the novel, Shah Rukh Khan had a role to play as himself, whom Zoya wanted to meet and be a part of his ad assignment. In an interview with Bollywood Hungama, Sonam and Dulquer confirmed that SRK has done a part in the movie. They also mention that there is another celebrity cameo in the movie. What they didn't tell us that this celebrity cameo has replaced what Shah Rukh Khan did in the novel, but in a funnier manner. From The Zoya Factor to Brahmastra, Every Film Shah Rukh Khan Is Expected or Rumoured to Make a Cameo In!

It is Sonam's father Anil Kapoor who appears as an exaggerated version of himself in the movie. Playing a star call AK, we see him during the shoot of a movie where he plays a one-eyed pirate, who has to mumble (but couldn't) and calls himself a star from Hollywood (a wink at his Slumdog Millionaire and Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol stint). Zoya is supposed to give him a reading of an ad, but her tongue is numb from dentistry work, leading to a very funny interaction. Needless to say, this is one of the best scenes in the film.

So what is Shah Rukh Khan doing? Remember he had given the voice narration for one of the songs of the film? That's exactly what SRK does in The Zoya Factor. Continuing his adamancy of not appearing in front of the camera for a movie (after the debacle of Zero), Shah Rukh Khan instead, prefers to let his charismatic voice narrate the life story of Zoya, doing the honours at the beginning and ending of the film. The Zoya Factor Song Lucky Charm: Missing Shah Rukh Khan? Here's Him Narrating The Story of Zoya in Sonam Kapoor's Film! Watch Video.

The Zoya Factor is directed by Abhishek Sharma of Tere Bin Laden and Parmanu - The Story of Pokhran fame. At the box office, the movie is clashing with Sanjay Dutt's Prassthanam and Karan Deol's Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas.

 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 20, 2019 11:00 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).