Pakistan’s javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem scripted history last week when he won the Olympic gold at the Paris Games with a record thrown. In the process, he beat good friend and India’s defending champion Neeraj Chopra. The two spoke to the Games’ official broadcaster JioCinema after the event and discussed films too, apart from their triumph.
Arshad and Neeraj marked a unique India-Pakistan 1-2 finish at a global athletic event. The two athletes’ camaraderie and friendship made the moment all the more sweeter. In their interaction with JioCinema, the two were asked, among other things, suggestions for which actors they would want to portray them if films were made on them. When Arshad was asked which actor should play Neeraj Chopra in a film, the Olympic champion thought and responded, “You can take Shah Rukh Khan.”
Prior to this, Neeraj had been posed the same question – if there was a film made on his rival Arshad, which Hindi film actor should play him. The two-time Olympic medallist responded, “Pata nahi koi height wala hero dekhna padega. Arshad ki height achi hai (I don’t know but you would need a hero with good height because Arshad is tall).” When further prodded for an answer, Neeraj added, “Apne India mein to jawaani mein Amitabh Bachchan kar sakte the lekin abhi toh koi nahin (In India, when Amitabh Bachchan ji was young, he could have done that, but now there isn’t anybody).”
Neeraj Chopra had won India’s first Olympic gold in athletics at the Tokyo Games three years ago and came to Paris as one of the favourites. Even though he threw a distance of over 89m – close to his personal best of 89.94m – it wasn’t enough to secure a back-to-back victory for the boy from Haryana. Arshad Nadeem obliterated the competition with an Olympic record effort of 92.97m, winning Pakistan’s first Olympic medal in 32 years. Neeraj settled for a silver this time around.
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