Athlete, Olympic gold medallist, youth icon and now, an actor too - we are talking about 23-year-old Neeraj Chopra who has taken the Internet by storm once again. This time, it is not for his prowess on-field but for his acting skills. Neeraj Chopra has featured in an ad for Cred, a credit card management platform, and impressed millions with his acting chops. Cred is the same platform that turned Rahul Dravid into "Indiranagar ka gunda" and Jackie Shroff into a zumba instructor - but the ad starring javelin star Neeraj Chopra shows him not one but several different avatars.
The hilarious ad takes a dig at the media frenzy around the Olympic star, with Neeraj playing the roles of a journalist, a cashier, a marketing executive, a filmmaker and an aspiring javelin thrower with equal elan.
"360 Degree Marketing!" he wrote while sharing the ad on Twitter.
360 Degree Marketing! @cred_club #ad pic.twitter.com/RmjWAXERxm
— Neeraj Chopra (@Neeraj_chopra1) September 19, 2021
Since being posted two days ago, the video has racked up over 2 million views and 56,000 'likes' on the microblogging platform.
Actor Sidharth Malhotra was among those impressed by Neeraj Chopra's acting.
People are talking about the biopic, but aapne toh acting debut hi kar liya! https://t.co/b4T0SDDdZ3
— Sidharth Malhotra (@SidMalhotra) September 19, 2021
Former cricketer Virender Sehwag also praised the ad and its star
The only Person for whom ‘Kya Fekta hai Yaar' is a compliment- @Neeraj_chopra1 ! https://t.co/RuyWJujD0n
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) September 19, 2021
Photographer Atul Kasbekar applauded the Olympian's ability to laugh at himself.
Each time u think that d #Cred adverts cannot outdo themselves they reinvent n hit it out of d park
— atul kasbekar (@atulkasbekar) September 20, 2021
Also @Neeraj_chopra1 can actually act n has d ability to laugh at himself while cocking a snook at d world
Brilliant
That'll take him a lot further than any javelin he's flung
Meanwhile, Twitter users were struck by the athlete's acting skills as he portrayed different roles with apparent ease
His acting is better than many bollywood stars
— ???? (@S1Rajput2) September 19, 2021
Ye apne biopic me khud kaam kargaaa..???????? pic.twitter.com/c8hnZAWXbF
Star Kids after watching Neeraj Chopra's brilliant acting skills: pic.twitter.com/01CUB7HRVY
— Nikhil Aggarwal (@nikhil__98) September 19, 2021
Cred once again hits it out of the park. And Neeraj Chopra shows his good acting skills too along with portraying various wacky characters, wow! ???? pic.twitter.com/0ihUSK4X0f
— ???????????????????? ४ (@AwaaraHoon) September 19, 2021
Cred had earlier featured Rahul Dravid in an ad that had gone massively viral on social media. The famously mild-mannered cricketer played the role of a man losing his cool in Bangalore traffic.
Speaking to the Indian Express, Ayappa KM, director of the Cred commercials, described Neeraj as "the opposite of Dravid".
"Sometimes he would just break down in the middle of a line laughing. He just wanted to have fun, he was chilling and having a great time," the ad director said for Neeraj Chopra.
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