Director Abhishek Sharma, whose book-to-reel adaptation Zoya Factor is up for release this week, doesn’t believe in luck or superstition. Humour works for him.

“When I bought my last car they told me I will have to pay more if I wanted a particular registration number. People considered the number unlucky as it had the digit ‘8’. I used that car for eight years. I believe in hard work and have been in pursuit of hard work which has brought me here,” said Abhishek, who has films like Tere Bin Laden and Parmanu to his credit.

Zoya Factor is about luck and how Sonam Kapoor Ahuja’s character turns into a lucky mascot for the Indian cricket team. But luck has never been an important factor for his films. “If that was the case all my films would have been hits. My second film, Tere Bin Laden 2, was a disaster,” he said. “When things don’t work we all blame luck.”

Humour is what works for him, he emphasises. Abhishek said: “It’s my basic flavour, Even with a serious film like Parmanu you can see a dash of humour. I am doing comedy film next with Zee. I want to try different genres. Every time there is a new challenge, you try to bring something new to the table. When you get into a unpredictable zone there will be excitement about what’s new.”

Since Parmanu’s success, Abhishek also has plans to reunite with John Abraham. “I would love to do some comedy with John as he is good with humour. We are discussing a lot of stories now. It should excite both of us,” he said. John, in fact, has Pagalpanti with Anees Bazmee up next, after a recent slew of thriller and action films.