The Zoya Factor by Anuja Chauhan is a perfect blend of humour and romance. A heady mix of cricket, advertising and romance, the book is tailor-made for we Indians because only we can truly appreciate the cricket craze, the nostalgic advertisements, the Hinglish and the weird but so familiar characters.
India is a nation which is crazy about cricket. And when a book revolves around the World Cup and a brewing romance between a commoner and the captain of the Indian cricket team then it’s a sure shot recipe for a bestseller. And now when a film is soon coming up based on the book with Sonam Kapoor & Dulquer Salmaan in the lead roles, I thought I should better hurry up and read the book before the film is out.
Zoya Solanki , a mid-level marketing executive at an ad-firm & typical ‘Karol-Bagh’ type was born on 25th March 1983, at the very moment that India won the Cricket World Cup. During her assignment with the current Indian Cricket Team in Dhaka, the superstitious bunch of young cricketers discover that having breakfast with Zoya leads to victory. And her absence led to a crushing defeat! Zoya is considered to be somewhat a lucky charm and is persuaded to accompany the Indian team to the tenth ICC World Cup. Zoya lands in Australia on a fully paid holiday along with her Rinku Chachi, her friend Mon and Mon’s little brat Armaan.
The only problem is that Nikhil Khoda, the brilliant captain of the Indian team doesn’t believe in the Zoya factor. He wants the team’s win to be attributed to the hard work & efforts of the boys and not to some lucky charm. The irresistible attraction between the two only adds up to the chaos. In a cricket crazy nation, Zoya is soon elevated to the status of a goddess who will ultimately lead India to victory. There are a few laughs, a few tears, lots of arguments & fights, some steamy sessions, and finally, a happy ending.
Anuja Chauhan is one of the rare Indian authors that I truly enjoy. The novel is pure unadulterated fun. With generous doses of Hinglish and humour, the book is thoroughly Indian without being overtly sentimental, boring or cheesy! The characters were so relatable and hilarious. Hairy, the Indian opener and his groin problems, Lingnath Baba and his sadhugiri, the pistachio eating Lokey, Eppa and her balls curry and the rest will make you cackle like crazy. Equally hilarious is little Armaan and his rhymes!
The book truly draws upon the Indian way of life. The gully cricket and the advertisements of the yesteryears bring back a sense of nostalgia. It’s such a fun book which I would definitely recommend to everyone. In a nutshell, ‘The Zoya Factor’ is funny, saucy yet endearing…a must read!
Title: The Zoya Factor
Originally published: 2008
Author: Anuja Chauhan
Genre: Chick lit
Publisher: HarperCollins
Page Count: 511
©2019 Shaloo Walia All rights reserved
So, do you recommend to someone from the States who knows nothing about cricket?
The knowledge of cricket is not essentially required to enjoy the book. However, the book is in ‘Hinglish’ – a combination of Hindi & English…and that will be a problem as you will not understand it properly.
Shaloo your review made me want to rush up to the book store and read it immediately.You are a fantastical book blogger,one with acute observational power and an ability to write every smallest details.Well done!
Thank you Neha for your kind words…and definitely the book is worth a read. You will love it!
I fully concur with your review Sahloo. Had read this book a couple of years back and thoroughly enjoyed it 🙂
Yeah,Radhika.. Anuja Chauhan’s books are worth a read. I wanted to read this one before the movie comes out. However, I don’t really see Sonam Kapoor as Zoya but let’s hope the movie does justice to the book.