How Bollywood celebrities like Anushka Sharma and Sushant Singh Rajput spoke up against skin lightening and colourism in Indian society
Recently, Bollywood celebrities like Priyanka Chopra, Disha Patani and Deepika Padukone were slammed as hypocrites after speaking out against racism in support of the #BlackLivesMatter – while having endorsed skin lightening and face whitening products in the past. Colourism and prejudice issue still rampantly plagues Indian society, but these five stars are speaking out in hope of changing India’s preconceptions – and against the US$4 billion skin-lightening industry.
Nandita Das
Actress-filmmaker Nandita Das has been the face of the Dark is Beautiful social campaigns since 2013, and a lifelong advocate of anti-colourism, as she believes the images of beauty shown in the country’s media don't reflect the diversity seen in society. Speaking to Hindustan Times, she said, “People need not be defined by identities they are born with. Nationality, religion, gender, sexual preference, colour of skin, are not things to be ashamed or proud of.”
Anushka Sharma
Sharma made a statement to Indian Express in 2015, being the first of a select few actors to not endorse fairness products. “I would not endorse products that propagate racist and sexist (beliefs) … and propagate social taboo. I don’t want to endorse products that propagate fair skin and all. I will not propagate anything that says this is right or wrong.”
Abhay Deol
Nephew of Bollywood legend Dharmendra, Abhay mocked top Bollywood actors in a viral Facebook post back in 2015 for their fairness creams endorsements and asked society to “stop buying into the idea that a particular shade is better than others”.
Recently, on Instagram he asked if Indian celebrities will stop endorsing fairness creams in this “woke culture” and shared data about skin-lightening products.
Kangana Ranaut
In 2015, actress Ranaut made headlines for turning down a US$500,000 skin-whitening deal as she didn’t want to set a bad example for the younger generation. Chiming in on the recent #BLM hypocrisy in an interview with the BBC, she said: “Why is no one asking them about these million-dollar deals that they’ve been doing with all kinds of fairness products and how come suddenly all black lives matter [to them] because racism is deep-rooted and when you have commercialised such events, that is the lowest humanity can hit.”
Sushant Singh Rajput
The late Chhichhore star declined a Rs15 crore (US$2 million) fairness cream endorsement in 2018 as he believed it’s every actor responsibility not to send out incorrect messages, adding that he didn’t believe in “promoting the ideology of preferring one skin tone over another”. Rajput tragically died by suicide on June 14, but his philanthropy and work for social causes remain an enduring legacy.
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Forget Priyanka Chopra and Disha Patani’s Black Lives Matter blunders – Bollywood stars including Nandita Das, Abhay Deol and Kangana Ranaut are speaking up against skin lightening, face whitening creams and colourism in Indian society