For the first time in the history of Indian sport there is an iconic advertisement which represents the real power of sportswomen. The ad is led by Indian actress Deepika Padukone where she is seen training rigorously along with 10 other Indian sportswomen. The video mesmerises us with the presence of 11 bold and beautiful women who train to be the best and will not take no for an answer. The ad has been made by sportswear brand Nike to encourage the athletes for the upcoming Rio Olympics.
The ad film is close to three minutes long and features the most impeccable of Indian women who are striving for glory in their respective sports. All the athletes, along with the actress, are shown as competitors who are always training to get better in order to beat their opponent. The video also shows the athletes enjoying themselves with some fun dance moves. The music in the video gets all the girls grooving which is taken from artist Gener8ion.
The 10 athletes are seen playing sports such as squash, boxing, cricket, football, hockey and basketball. Deepika is seen training with the girls and then playing badminton in the latter part of the video. The best part of the video comes when all these athletes are seen happily running together before the video ends with the caption of “Just Do It”.
You can check out the video here but don’t forget to check out the ten Indian athletes:
Here are the ten athletes featuring in the advertisement:
1) Joshna Chinappa
At the age of 29, Joshna Chinappa is the highest ranked Indian women squash player. She has been an inspiration to the nation with her performances starting from the junior level. The squash player has won 7 world titles so far and also has the unique record of winning the squash Indian Nationals Junior and the Indian Nationals Senior in the same year.
She won both the titles in 2004 when she was just 17 years old. She has also won a gold medal in the doubles with Dipika Pallikal in the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
In the video, the squash expert is seen during the starting few seconds where she is seen having a run with other athletes and beating them with her speed. She comes back in the video in the latter stages where all the women run together.
2) Jyoti Ann Burrett
Jyoti Ann Burrett is an Indian women’s footballer who plays for the national team. The 26-year-old striker hails from Dehradun, Uttarakhand. She made her international debut for India in the year 2013 and has been an outstanding player for the team. She may be short at 5 feet 3 inches but she is one the most dangerous strikers in women's football in Asia.
She has been known to speak out against the discrimination in facilities provided to men and women footballers. Even though she has a Master’s degree from St.Stephen’s College, she chose to become a full-time football player. She features in the Indian team jersey in the advertisement and is seen kicking the football.
3) Namrata Purohit
Namrata Purohit’s story is a fascinating one. At the age of just 21, she is the youngest fully trained Pilates coach in the world. But Pilates was not her first love she was a professional squash player, a football player and a certified scuba diver.
But at the age of 15, she had a horrific accident when she fell off a horse and broke her knee. She had to quit all the sports she used to love.
However, her love for sports and fitness could not keep her far from the sports arena and she decided to try out Pilates training. Currently, she has a Pilates training studio and works with the best athletes from around the world to help them stay fit. In the video, Namrata is seen training with Deepika and fellow athletes.
4) Rani Rampal
Rani Rampal is an Indian hockey player who plays for the national team. At the age of 15, she was the youngest player to feature in a World Cup match for any country when she played for India in the 2010 World Cup. She was also the “Player of the Tournament” when India won the bronze medal in the 2013 Junior World Cup.
The 21-year-old has already made 140 appearances for India at the international level. She is one of the many young talents who are making the country proud. Currently, she has been preparing for the Rio Olympics with the Indian women’s hockey team.
She features in the video in a big role as she is seen training and playing hockey. Her fighting spirit is also visible in the video.
5) Ishita Malaviya
Ishita Malaviya is a huge inspiration for many young Indian surfers who want to go international with their sport. She is the only woman surfer from India who is recognised worldwide. The Indian surfer has a dream of making the Indian coastline an ideal venue for surfers and she runs a surf club named Shark Surf Club in coastal Karnataka and is helped by her husband.
In the advertisement, Ishita is seen standing alone in a training room where she is ready to face the challenges ahead of her. She is also seen grooving to the beats of the music. Ishita has been included in the video for the way she has broken the stereotype of Indians not taking part in the surfing culture.
6) Harmanpreet Kaur Bhullar
The Indian cricket team captain is one of the three women cricket players who feature in the Nike ad. She is a right-hand batsman but also bowls medium pace and is also the captain of the Indian cricket team.
The 27-year old had an outstanding 2016 ICC Women’s World Twenty20 and almost helped India in reaching the semi-finals. In one of the proud achievements for Indian women’s cricket, the captain was selected by the Sydney Thunder franchise in the Women’s Big Bash League in Australia.
The cricketer is seen hitting her former national teammate Shubhlakshmi Sharma for a lofted shot in the video. She also goes on to shout “Come on” in one of the close-up shots of the Indian captain.
7) Shubhlakshmi Sharma
Shubhlakshmi Sharma is a medium fast bowler for the Indian women’s cricket team and is also featured in the Nike ad. She hails from the state of Jharkhand, the same state from where the Indian men’s cricket team’s captain MS Dhoni hails.
Sharma started playing for India in the year 2012 and has represented India in both One-day internationals and Twenty20 Internationals. She was a crucial figure in the squad for the 2013 ICC Women’s World Cup.
But the bowler was dropped from the team in April 2013 and has not been selected ever since. However, with her part in the inspiring video, Sharma will be hoping she can find her form to break into the national team again. Her role in the video is short as she is seen bowling to her captain Harmanpreet Kaur.
8) Smriti Mandhana
Smriti Mandhana is the youngest player who features in the advertisement. She is aged just 19 years old and made her India debut at the age of just 16 when she was picked to play against Bangladesh women’s team.
She went on to make her Test debut soon at the age of 17 in 2014 when she scored a half-century in a run chase against England, a game India went on to win and create history.
Mandhana’s role in the video is an impressive one where she is seen running with a weight tied to her as she pushes herself to to run faster.
#9 Tanvie Hans
The state of Indian women’s football team cannot be called excellent. However, the case is different for Tanvie Hans, who became the first Indian women’s player to play in the Women’s Premier League when she was picked by the Tottenham Hotspur Women team.
Tanvie started her football career with the Vasant Valley School in Delhi, which was the first school in Delhi to have a women’s team. Tanvie’s love for football grew and she went to England after her schooling.
Tanvie played football there and understood that she needed to train more in order to get into a good side. Hence, she came back to India in 2012 and started training under her first coach.
This led to the Indian player getting selected for Tottenham’s Ladies side in 2013. She has since been playing for their third team an attacking winger. In the video though, Tanvie looks focussed and is scoring goals for fun. She is an inspiration to the budding players who want to take up football as a professional.
10) Shweta Hakke
Shweta Hakke may be the last name in the list but she’s definitely not the least. The Indian sprinter has been the finest sprinter in recent times the country has seen. She made headlines when she broke the record in the women’s 100m sprinting.
She won the gold medal with her outstanding 12.55 secs sprint at the Mumbai City (Suburban) Athletic meet in 2015. The sprinter is also known for her long jump attributes as on the same day, she won her second record-breaking gold medal in the long jump.
While Shweta will not be featuring at the upcoming Rio Olympics 2016, you can watch her run the world down in the video.
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