Shraddha Kapoor vets Varun Dhawan for Ajio’s brand ambassador role

A new two-minute and 30-second video uploaded on actor Varun Dhawan’s LinkedIn profile sees Shraddha Kapoor interview him for a brand ambassador role at Ajio. No product plugs, no sale announcement, just a clever way of announcing the celebrity ambassador before actually campaigning with them.

The film, shot with clear advertising intent, depicts Shraddha Kapoor in what appears to be her HR avatar, sitting in a chair next to Varun Dhawan, asking all the right questions apt for hiring. Dhawan, on the other hand, prepares himself with punchy, to-the-point answers filled with puns referencing his filmography. 

Kapoor has been the ambassador of Ajio since 2022 and has worked on multiple projects with the brand ever since. These include the flagship ‘All Stars Sale’ campaign earlier this year, the Fashion’s Most Wanted campaign last year, and the ‘Fashion’s Greatest Heist’ campaign.

It makes sense that she, as an experienced Ajio representative, would thoroughly vet Dhawan before he joins the brand. On the other hand, Dhawan has taken on numerous ambassadorial roles over the past year or so. He has been the face of KFC, Center Fresh, Phillips, and Parle Agro, among many others. 

So, it’s not surprising that people were puzzled when they found that the actor had just opened an account on LinkedIn a few days ago. "Actor | Investor | Assistant Director" reads his description on the professional networking site, and to add a pinch of authenticity to this whole schtick, his first post on the profile exuded genuineness. 

“I'm excited to join the LinkedIn community! As someone who's been working in the film industry for over a decade, I've had the privilege of learning a lot about the importance of hard work, teamwork, and constantly evolving. What excites me most about being here is the opportunity to connect with professionals from all industries—not just entertainment…,” he wrote.

But, with this latest Ajio work, it seems that the entire LinkedIn thingy was a prelude to this HR-Applicant roleplay between Shraddha Kapoor and Varun Dhawan. In fact, Ajio's own YouTube channel doesn’t have this video.

Neither is the collab posted on any of the actors’ other social media handles. Is it still speculation? Sure. But it remains to be seen if this LinkedIn profile is used beyond this, and to what degree Dhawan maintains his presence on the platform. So far, only two posts in almost a week.