The branding seems to be strong with Abhishek Sharma's The Zoya Factor. With the film set in the commercial world of cricket and advertising, product placement was inevitable.
But a song titled 'Pepsi Ki Kasam' is walking the thin line between advertising jingle and feature film song. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's latest composition for the film comes across as an impressive ad jingle masquerading as a film song. Composed by the trio, it is sung by Benny Dayal, with lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya.
The song's visuals are hyped up by Dulquer Salmaan's cricket captain trying to woo Sonam Kapoor Ahuja's mercurial Zoya Solanki. The song shapes up, visually, like a high-end club song. With its low lighting and chic fashion, the song does make for a good watch.
What makes it a little cringey is the open product placement, which also looks like the beginning of a new campaign.
The composition by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy is not as impressive as some of their work. The song has a fairly ordinary tempo, with a steady rhythm. The EDM infusion does not help at all to improve any facet of the song.
Benny Dayal tries hard to make the most of it, and partially succeeds. The singer has a voice texture which suits the composition, but the nature of the song keeps the enthusiasm low.
The lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya are more disappointing. The Pepsi branding aside, the lyrics are monotonous and get tiresome after a while. Quite the oddity from a lyricist of high caliber.
The Zoya Factor, directed by Abhishek Sharma, is due to be released on 20 September.