After his gold-winning exploits at the Tokyo Olympics, Neeraj Chopra had an equally phenomenal run in 2022, winning the elite Diamond League and a medal at the World Championships But, more importantly, he has given Indian athletes a seat at the table
We are shooting with Neeraj Chopra in Delhi, and the studio’s all set up. The backdrop has been unfurled, the lights adjusted, flashes tested, while Chopra, attired in a blue ensemble, is perched on a stool as hairdressers fix his floppy mop that was hanging out of the cap he was wearing backwards when he came in. The photographer and the stylist, meanwhile, are running a mini-conference last minute to decide whether a scarlet trunk, kept out of the frame so far, would add an edge to the aesthetics. Chopra listens for a bit, then chimes in: “De do bhai, ‘airport look’ ho jayega [Give it, brother, it will become an ‘airport look’].”