PokerStars India Announces Nawazuddin Siddiqui As Its First Celebrity Brand Ambassador

Nawazuddin Siddiqui Cover
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  • Namita Ghosh March 1, 2019
  • 2 Minutes Read

He has been around in Indian Cinema for 13 years now, with a National Award, and many other accolades under his belt. But what really endeared Nawazuddin Siddiqui (cover image) to the masses was his performance in ‘Peepli Live’ and most famously his role as ‘Faizal Khan’ in the 2012 hit ‘Gangs of Wasseypur.’ While this talented 42-year old has stepped into many roles since; his latest avatar has taken the entire Bollywood and poker industry by surprise. No, Siddiqui is not playing poker professionally yet, but has joined the Indian arm of the world’s biggest online poker brand, PokerStars as a brand ambassador! Announcing this across social media on Thursday, PokerStars India welcomed Siddiqui on board.

 

While rumors of a Bollywood actor joining PokerStars India were doing the rounds in the inner circle of the domestic poker circuit for some time now, everyone wondered who he or she was. Just a day before, the company gave the strongest hint on Twitter, with an image of the to-be ambassador, whose face was half covered.

 

From the looks of the post, it wasn’t too difficult to guess who the new PokerStars ambassador was and as expected the official announcement by the site a day later confirmed Siddiqui as the new PokerStars India brand ambassador.

PokerStars’ Foray in India

Siddiqui joins a talented roster of Team Pros who are part of PokerStars India. India’s poker veteran Aditya ‘Intervention’ Agarwal was the first Indian pro to be signed in by the brand, in 2015. At this time, Indians were still playing on PokerStars’ international client.

Aditya Agarwal
Aditya Agarwal

Then followed the official launch of PokerStars in India, early in 2018 through a tie-up with Indian lottery conglomerate Sugal & Damani backed Sachiko Gaming Pvt. Ltd. Shortly after that, Muskan Sethi was roped in as the second Team PokerStars India pro.

Muskan Sethi
Muskan Sethi

Poker industry experts would agree that despite having an accomplished pro team backed by the best professionals in the business, the company has been struggling to gain the dominance in the domestic market that it enjoys globally. Though many had predicted that the globally popular brand would get a runaway lead at launch in India, things didn’t turn out so well, and PokerStars’ entry into the Indian poker space was largely lackluster. In a tough and competitive online poker market, the global giant has found it hard to grab market share from the other market leaders.

 

Enter Nawazuddin Siddiqui

In recent years we have seen celebrity names from the film industry, cricket and other sports join hands with Indian gaming companies. If Adda52 has former actor Minishha Lamba and West Indies cricketing legend Chris Gayle promoting the site, then fantasy games provider 11 Wickets has Sunny Leone, while former Indian cricket team captain MS Dhoni is the brand ambassador for Dream11. Even PokerBaazi had Olympic boxer Vijender Singh endorsing the brand till earlier this year.

Siddiqui is the first mainstream Bollywood actor to join PokerStars India. Hailing from a modest background, Siddiqui is today considered one of the most talented actors in Bollywood. From cameo roles to critically acclaimed performances in super hits like Black Friday (2007), Kahani (2011), The Lunchbox (2013), Manjhi –The Mountain Man (2015) and the latest Thackeray (2019), the portfolio of this National School of Drama (NSD) graduate reflects the versatility and the sheer presence he commands on screen. The actor has also won over a broader fan base for his performance in the critically acclaimed Netflix series, ‘Sacred Games.’

Siddiqui has a huge following among the masses and his addition to PokerStars Team will undoubtedly prove a shot in the arm for the brand and should augur well for the growth of the mind sport in the country. There is undoubtedly a lot at stake in this brand association for the company as well, as it is now looking to reach out to the Indian masses in a bigger way with round-the-clock promotions and TV commercials of the actor in all major TV networks in the country.

PokerStars India in a bid to leverage the growing interest in the brand with this announcement has launched several promotions on its site. Three videos featuring Siddiqui have already been uploaded by PokerStars India on its website with the same also being shown in TV ads. In these, users are being asked to guess if Siddiqui is bluffing and on posting correct answers, they get to win five free tickets to five freerolls scheduled between March 3-31. PokerStars India has also increased the guarantees of its prime time tournaments with ₹84 Lakhs guaranteed in featured tournaments every week. The site is also offering other offers like cashback and freebies for depositing players.

Well, the Faizal Khan of ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ had us charmed, bringing back a strong element of parallel cinema into the Bollywood masala mix. It’s to be seen how Siddiqui can prove an asset for the international gaming giant, and help it gain a more significant footing in the country.

The three videos uploaded by PokerStars India on its website featuring Nawazuddin Siddiqui can be seen here.

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