Fair or dark, it doesn’t matter, say actors
Even two weeks after a leading cosmetic brand decided to drop the words ‘fairness’, ‘whitening’ and ‘lightening’ from their range of beauty products, the debate around colour bias and India’s obsession with fair skin refuses to die down. While many are hopeful that an evolution is underway, Bollywood actors feel we still have a long road ahead especially when it comes to doing away with discrimination based on skin colour in showbiz.
Richa Chadha agrees that one is called ‘unconventional dusky, sexy’, but she’s quick to add, “Once I was rejected for a role because the director insisted on having a ‘fair and homely’ actress. I really think things are changing and I hope actors no longer face discrimination because of their skin colour. About a decade ago, when I’d audition for ads, we were told categorically that the skin care ads would go to foreign models as they’re fair.”
Actor Anupria Goenka recalls her initial years when she’d audition for ads and a lot of audition messages would say, ‘looking for a fair girl’. She says, “While casting, those who’re dusky or dark are often considered for a certain category of characters — like a role that’s sexy, seductive or perhaps the other woman category. For a girl next door, fair women are preferred.”
Tannishtha Chatterjee says, “I’ve often been told ‘We’d look for a suitable role for you’. So, it’ll take two-three generations for this change to happen.”
Though Sayani Gupta agrees that such discrimination exists, she opines that the film industry is a better place. “Obsession with fair skin is there. But that doesn’t mean your heroines can’t be dark. Such prejudices exist in society in general,” she adds.
And male stars face this too. Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui, in an interview to us earlier, had called out this obsession with fair skin, and revealed he was rejected because he is “dark”.
Adil Hussain, who isn’t new to colour bias, says the change is happening but it’s painfully slow. “Such biases can be best addressed by art. Cinema can influence mindset. So, we must become the moral compass of society and help everyone evolve for the better,” he says.