Mumbai, July 6: New Zealand’s Zespri International, a marketer of kiwifruit, has signed on child actor Harshaali Malhotra of “Bajrangi Bhaijaan” fame as the face of the brand.
This is the first time that a Bollywood face will be seen endorsing the company.
Zespri International is now targeting India as one of its key growth markets this year.
New Zealand’s kiwifruit are flooding into India, with twice as many SunGold and record numbers of Green kiwifruit set to be shipped this season. This year will see an import of around 1.5 million trays of Green kiwifruit and 200,000 trays of SunGold kiwifruit.
Keeping this rapid growth in mind, the company is in the process of creating a multi-media communication campaign with Harshaali.
Zespri’s association with the child actor is to emphasise the right way of eating kiwifruit in a simple three-part process – Cut, scoop and enjoy.
“Zespri is excited to associate with Harshaali Malhotra as her sweet and endearing persona fits perfectly with that of our brand,” Zespri India’s Country Head and Marketing Manager Ritesh Bhimani said in a statement.
“There is much clutter in the fruit market and it is imperative for us to connect with children and parents across the country to emphasise the delicious taste of the Zespri kiwifruits along with their abundant health benefits,” he added.
Harshaali made her film debut with a leading role in Kabir Khan’s 2015 drama film Bajrangi Bhaijaan, opposite Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Nawazuddin Siddiqui.
She played the role of Shahida alias ‘Munni’, a Pakistani Muslim girl who gets lost in India and travels back to her homeland with the help of an Indian, Pavan Kumar Chaturvedi (played by Salman Khan).
Harshaali was selected out of 5,000 girls who appeared for the film’s audition.
Her performance as a mute girl was critically praised and earned her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut nomination, making her the youngest person to be nominated in the category and won the Screen Award for Best Child Artist among several other awards and nominations.