When Dulquer Salmaan's character from 'The Zoya Factor' paid a tribute to MS Dhoni

Abhishek Sharma's The Zoya Factor released in September 2019. The film starred Dulquer Salmaan and Sonam Kapoor in the lead roles. While the film was about cricket, Sharma did not reveal if a character's personality in the film was ever inspired by an actual cricketer. 

However, in 2019, the filmmaker did reveal that he paid tribute to former Indian cricket team captain, MS Dhoni. According to Bollywood Hungama, The Zoya Factor director discussed this piece of information and explained how the character essayed by Dulquer Salmaan was the tribute to the cricketer. The film is a light adaptation of Anuja Chauhan's novel of the same name. 

The Zoya Factor's tribute to MS Dhoni

In an interaction with Bollywood Hungama which took place in 2019, director Abhishek Sharma was asked if actor Dulquer Salmaan's character in the film, Nikhil Khoda, was inspired by any Indian cricketer. The director explained how he did not want Salmaan to "act like any cricketer" however he paid tribute to MS Dhoni by having Salmaan's jersey number in the film be 7. He then went to talk about the former Indian cricket team captain.

Sharma explained his decision by talking about how he believed that Dhoni is a great cricketer with "great values" and had amazing leadership skills which is why he wanted to "give an ode to Dhoni". He then clarified that Salmaan's character was not a reflection of Dhoni's and that the character was ultimately based on author Anuja Chauhan's novel. However, he concluded the interaction by explaining how Dhoni was his favourite Indian captain which is why he wanted to pay a tribute. 

More about 'The Zoya Factor'

The Zoya Factor is a romantic comedy film directed by Abhishek Sharma and produced by Fox Star Studios, Pooja Shetty, and Aarrti Shetty. The film starred Dulquer Salmaan and Sonam K Ahuja and was a light adaptation of Anuja Chauhan's 2008 novel of the same name.

The plot of the film revolves around a girl, Zoya Solanki, who becomes a lucky charm for the Indian Cricket team during the 2011 Cricket World Cup, and the team captain Nikhil Khoda who doesn't believe in luck and superstitions. Take a look at the trailer for the film below - 

Image - Still from The Zoya Factor trailer