Page 78 - Masala E-magazine Vol 9 Issue 3 December 2017-January 2018

Bollywood

Is Fair

Really

Lovely?

Michael Jackson’s famous song reiterates
that it don’t matter if you’re black or white.

But why is Bollywood still not getting
the message?
By Krishna Mawani

A typical Indian whitening cream commercial tells a
familiar story — a young, dusky woman is unable to land
her dream job, get married or be accepted in society.
What’s the solution? A whitening product! Seven days
later, the same woman is now fair, and thus, desirable.
She is able to nd a man and ful l her dreams.

This unrealistic portrayal of being fair-skinned is deeply
rooted in Asian cultures. And it is not only restricted to
women. We have to come to associate white as beautiful
and dark as ugly. Fortunately, the Advertising Standards
Council of India, a self-regulated advertiser group,
issued a new set of guidelines in 2014 that bans ads
which depict people with darker skin as being inferior in
any way. However, we still see a fairer-than-usual Yami
Gautam promote whitening creams as the secret to
natural beauty.

This mindset is not only prevalent in our society but also
in Bollywood. The number of multiracial women who
have reached success in this competitive industry is
astonishing. Let’s take a look at some of the actresses
who have made it big, not for their acting prowess but
rather for their appearances.

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