The Bollywood Stars Who Opposed Skin Lightening Creams

Written by Bency Sebastian  • 

We live in a society that is obsessed with fair skin. From time immemorial, dark skin is considered inferior and as a society, we have bought into the idea that fair beauty is the ideal kind of beauty. If you take a closer look at the media content that we are catered to, you’ll understand that light skin has been linked to finding success, love, and beauty in more ways than one. It is quite sad to see the kind of messages that these skin lightening products convey. There have been adverts that show a dark-skinned girl who wants to pursue singing but is denied the opportunity because of her skin color. But as she starts using skin lightening creams, she gains success and recognition and becomes a superstar. Such ridiculous notions have been promoted through our adverts and movies which shape audiences’ perspective on beauty.

It is quite apparent that Bollywood is obsessed with fair skin as we see all the lead roles being played by women who have lighter skin. Dark-skinned women play the roles of villains, helpers or lower caste characters, quite often. What is more appalling is that young, educated and influential celebrities give in to this idea of light skin and promote fair skin by endorsing these products. It is just the sad truth. However, there are a few celebrities who are now coming out and speaking up about the discrimination based on skin color and even turning down the big bucks. Sushant Singh Rajput and Kangana Ranaut are just a few of them who have opposed fairness creams and turned down large amounts of money by choosing not to endorse them.

The Indian Reality

In a country like India, where there are people with different shades of skin color, obsession with one particular color is quite disappointing. It would probably shock you to know that skin lightening creams and other such products are a $450 million industry in our country and despite education and awareness, it seems to continue growing. With the entertainment industry being obsessed with fair skin, it is highly unlikely that these numbers are going to go down. After all, what we feed into our minds is what we eventually believe in (1).

Big celebrity names like Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt, and Sonam Kapoor have been a part of this fairness obsession which is not only disappointing but also quite disgusting. In an interview, Priyanka Chopra, the Bollywood turned Hollywood star expressed her regret for endorsing such creams and said it was a mistake. She also said that as a society, we need to move forward into accepting beauty in all shades. With Bollywood’s fascination with fair skin, many actresses have fallen prey to racial comments and some of them have been pressured into changing the color of their skin tone to a lighter one. It is easy to point fingers and judge these actresses for choosing to promote colorism. However, the sad reality is that a majority of Indian audiences will not watch movies with dark-skinned women in lead roles.

Image: Instagram @freidapinto

Colorism has been a pressing issue that has always been a part of Bollywood and several actresses have walked away because they were asked to change their natural skin tone. One such socially aware actress is Nandita Das who is a strong supporter of the “Dark is Beautiful” campaign. Another talented actress, Freida Pinto, who acted in the Oscar-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire has commented more than once on the industry’s fair skin obsession and simply walked away because she was asked to lighten her skin tone.

Change Is Right Now

Image: Instagram

With fair skin being the beauty norm since the 15th century, it is difficult to see change overnight. However, there has been a significant amount of change in our society and it is important to appreciate it. It was reported that Sushant Singh Rajput, a new age celebrity, recently refused an offer of Rs. 15 crores ($1.7 million) to endorse fairness creams. He expressed his views to a popular news agency and said, “As responsible actors, it is our duty to not indulge in sending out incorrect messages. We should not, in any way, endorse or promote the ideology of preferring one skin tone over another.” Sushant was not the only one who stood up against this discrimination.

Image: Instagram @abhaydeol

In 2017, Abhay Deol created a social media storm when he called out major stars for supporting such a demeaning and racist idea. In one of his posts, he said, “You have to stop buying into the idea that a particular shade is better than others.” Kangana Ranaut is another celeb who refused to partake in this biased propaganda. She turned down an offer for Rs. 20 million when she was asked to endorse a fairness beauty brand. She even said that she is ashamed of actors who support such deals.

On February 6th, 2020, the Ministry Of Health And Family Welfare proposed a ban on advertisements promoting fairness creams. It also included anti-aging products and health drinks claiming an increase in the height of children and said that the law-breakers could attract a fine of Rs. 50 lakh with five years of imprisonment (2). This bill isn’t passed yet but we hope that it happens soon for good.

Sure, things have surely changed from the past but we have a long way to go before we live in a society that does not discriminate against people based on their skin color and accepts all shades of beauty. Comment below and let us know what you think about the matter.

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