Anuja's Zoya Factor combines cricket with romance

Televisionpoint.com Correspondent | Mumbai
For Anuja Chauhan, creating memorable punch lines like 'Nothing official about it', 'Yeh dil maange more', 'Mera number kab ayega' and 'Oye Bubbly' for brand Pepsi, has been a great journey in the world of advertisements.

The executive creative director and vice-president of JWT, has taken a big leap to the chick-lit genre to create The Zoya Factor, a novel that combines cricket and romance in a riveting combination.

Apart from the novel's subject matter, cricket, that India is obsessed with, what makes the book unique in Indian publishing history is the whopping print-run of 20,000 copies at the launch. The book will be on sale from July 11 across stores in India.

"It is very unusual for any publisher in India to go in for such a huge print run for a commercial debut novel, but we were confident of The Zoya Factor right at the first time we read Anuja's manuscript," said V K Karthika, editor and publisher, HarperCollins Publishers India.

Set in the year 2010 amid the 10th ICC cricket World Cup in Australia, the novel revolves around Zoya Singh Solanki, young advertising executive from Karol Bagh. The novel opens with a shoot for a cola commercial in Mumbai. But then on, it moves on to cricket.

Twenty-five-year-old Zoya had a chance meeting with the Indian cricket team and when the men in blue realise that Zoya was born at the very moment India won the first and the only cricket World Cup in 1983, they are intrigued. What intrigues them more was when they realised that having breakfast with her is followed by victories on the field, and when not eating with her results in defeat. They decide she is a lucky charm.

As luck would have it, the rag tag team had a sudden spurt of victories and soon the cricketcrazy nation declares her a goddess. Soon, Zoya is invited by the eccentric IBCC (stands for Indian Board of Cricket Control) president to accompany the team to the World Cup in Australia.

Pursued by international cricket boards on the one hand, wooed by cola majors on the other, Zoya struggles to stay grounded in the thick of the World Cup action.

And it doesn't help that she keeps clashing with the erratically brilliant new Indian skipper, who tells her flatly that he doesn't believe in luck. What follows is a love-hate relationship; attraction and antagonism. Zoya is luck personified and she never ceases to be the lucky charm for the men-in-blue.

"The novel deals with many aspects. Luck, superstition, new versus old in a nation perennially obsessed with cricket," said Chauhan.

Talking about Zoya, she said, "It was a deliberate attempt to give her the character of an advertising professional because advertising is what I know about. And it makes sense to set your novel around something that you are comfortable with."

According to her, several instances she wrote about in the novel would turn out to be true later. Her novel mentions cricketers getting physical after a match. "When Sree-Bhaji slap gate actually happened, it surprised me," said Chauhan.

While Chauhan enjoys writing copy for ads, she said, "in advertising, you are essentially writing someone else's story. Whereas, while writing this novel, I had the complete freedom and power to set the plot, pace and action the way I wanted."

The novel's style is modern, peppy and contemporary, says Karthika. "What makes this novel stand out is its well thought-out plot," she adds.

Married to Niret Alva, president, Miditech, Chauhan had the initial feedback to her novel from her husband and Niharika, her 13 year-old daughter. The publisher is waiting for the readers' response before any event could be organised to formally launch the book.

"I am sure the novel will have huge demand from at least the cricket playing countries," quips Karthika.