‘Dark is Beautiful’ campaign takes on unfair India

October 28, 2013

Nandita_DasMumbai, Oct 28: Looking to find a husband? Then you need to have lighter skin. That’s the all-pervasive message in India, and it’s something that one actress is fighting to overturn.

The new poster girl of the “Dark is Beautiful” campaign, Nandita Das, has called out India’s obsession with fair skin — a prejudice she says has driven some young women to the brink of suicide.

“Magazines, TV, cinema — everywhere being fair is synonymous with being beautiful,” Das told AFP.

Described as having “dusky” skin as opposed to a fair complexion, the 43-year-old is well used to Indian preoccupations with color, and not just in the film industry, where she has refused requests to lighten her skin for roles.

“How can you be so confident despite being so dark?” is a question regularly asked of Das, who has preferred to star in unconventional, issue-based films but says she would struggle to get ahead in mainstream Bollywood movies.

In May, Das became the face of the Dark is Beautiful campaign, launched in 2009 by activist group Women of Worth to celebrate “beauty beyond color.”

Her backing has helped to generate increasing debate in the media, but the response has underlined just how ingrained the preference is for fairer skin, which has long been associated with higher social classes and castes.

“I started getting tons of e-mails from young women pouring their heart out about how they were discriminated against. Some wanted to commit suicide because they couldn’t be fair,” she said.

Das found her own photograph had been lightened by a newspaper even for a feature on the campaign. When looking for a nanny, she was told one candidate was “good, but quite dark.”

Amid such pressures to be pale, India’s whitening cream market swelled from $397 million in 2008 to $638 million over four years, according to market researchers at Euromonitor International.

Skin-lightening products accounted for 84 percent of the country’s facial moisturiser market last year, their report shows.

The bias facing darker-skinned women was raised again in September when an Indian-origin woman, Nina Davuluri, won the “Miss America” contest in the United States.

“Had she been in India, far from entering a beauty contest, it is more likely that Ms Davuluri would have grown up hearing mostly disparaging remarks about the color of her skin,” said an editorial in The Hindu newspaper.

“She would have been — going by the storyline of most ‘fairness’ cream advertisements — a person with low self-esteem and few friends.”

Last year, a commercial for an “intimate wash” to whiten vaginas emerged, showing a young Indian woman who uses the product to successfully regain her friend’s attention.

The advert was widely panned, but a glance through matrimonial websites and newspaper columns suggests that fair skin, at least on a woman’s face, remains key to attaining an Indian husband.

Aspiring grooms often state in their adverts their preference for a fair bride, while nearly all women’s profiles describe their complexion as fair or so-called “wheatish.”

Ekta Ghosh, a fashion designer in Mumbai who specializes in wedding wear, said the message that only fair is beautiful had been passed down to Indian girls for generations.

“Parents, relatives, they all keep saying you should do something to lighten your skin tone,” she said.

India’s mass market whitening pioneer was “Fair & Lovely,” launched in 1975 by Hindustan Unilever and now selling in a range of other countries where pale skin is desirable, across Africa and the Middle East as well as Asia.

Indian consumer group Emami later came up with “Fair and Teen” for girls and “Fair and Handsome” for men.

Promoted by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, the latest advert shows him tossing a tube of the cream from the red carpet to a young male fan.

Dark is Beautiful has launched a petition against the “irresponsible” video and its message that “fair skin is a prerequisite for success.”

So far more than 15,000 people have signed up in protest, but Khan has not responded.

“You’re telling people they’re just not good enough,” said Das, who describes whitening cream adverts in general as “so regressive and derogatory.” Fairness cream producers suggest they help to boost users’ confidence, although both Emami and Hindustan Unilever declined to comment for this article. Not everyone, however, is convinced such creams are even effective.

Receptionist Prachi Chawan, 28, said she had been using Fair & Lovely products for three years “out of habit,” but has yet to see noticeable results.

“There have been no side effects but no change either,” she said.

Das believes whitening cream developers did not create Indians’ color bias and insecurities, but have “cashed in” on it, creating a “vicious circle.”

While men’s fairness products are gaining ground, the actress says women and girls still face far more pressure over their skin tone, which she puts down to a general lack of respect and inequality.

“Until we let women have the same space as men and treat them as human beings, all this will carry on.”

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News Network
June 20,2020

New Delhi, Jun 20: Taking cues from her own experience, actor Deepika Padukone on Saturday emphasised that people suffering from depression cannot 'snap out' of the mental health condition.

Continuing with her daily practice of posting mental health messages for people struggling with depression and other issues, Padukone posted the recent message on social media.

"Repeat after me: You cannot 'snap out' of depression," Padukone wrote on Twitter.

Padukone had started with the series of mental health quotes after the sudden demise of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, who committed suicide by hanging himself at his Bandra residence in Mumbai.

The 'Tamasha' actor started voicing her opinion on the importance of mental health through her foundation 'The Live Love Laugh Foundation' (TLLLF) in June 2015. Through the platform, the actor keeps launching nationwide awareness as well as destigmatisation campaigns.

Meanwhile, scores of comments followed on her latest post on mental health, where netizens too shared their take on mental health.

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Agencies
July 30,2020

Chennai, Jul 30: Filmmaker S.S. Rajamouli on Wednesday said he and his family members have tested positive for coronavirus and are currently quarantined at home.

The director, best known for his epic fantasy hit Baahubali series, said they got tested after they developed mild fever recently which subsided by itself.

“My family members and I developed a slight fever few days ago. It subsided by itself but we got tested nevertheless. The result has shown a mild COVID positive today. We have home quarantined as prescribed by the doctors (sic)” he said.

In a subsequent tweet, Rajamouli said he and his kin are asymptomatic and “feeling better”. They are, however, following all the precautions and instructions.

“Just waiting to develop antibodies so that we can donate our plasma,” he added.

Before the coronavirus-induced nationwide lockdown was announced in March, the filmmaker was working on his upcoming period action drama Rise Roar Revolt.

The Telugu film, featuring actors Ram Charan and NTR Jr in the lead, is a fictional tale based on the lives of two freedom fighters in early 20th century.

Andhra Pradesh witnessed its worst single day spike of coronavirus on Wednesday, 10,000 plus cases, as the other southern states, including Tamil Nadu and Karnataka also reported high daily numbers, although they saw a dip in the infections.

The cumulative tally of southern states — AP, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Kerala and the Union Territory of Puducherry was 24,855 on Wednesday.

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News Network
April 29,2020

Mumbai, Apr 29: Irrfan Khan, one of India's finest and most versatile actors, lost his battle with a rare form of cancer and died in a Mumbai hospital on Wednesday, a statement from his family said. He was 54

Irrfan, who was diagnosed with neuroendocrine tumour in 2018, is survived by his wife Sutapa and his sons Babil and Ayaan.

It is the second tragedy for the family in less than a week. The ?Maqbool? actor lost his mother, 95-year-old Saeeda Begum, in Jaipur just four days ago and could not attend the funeral because of the nationwide lockdown.

Irrfan, that rare actor who straddled multiple worlds, making his mark in both international and Indian cinema in roles intense and light-hearted, was admitted to the intensive care unit of the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital with a colon infection

?It's saddening that this day, we have to bring forward the news of him passing away. Irrfan was a strong soul, someone who fought till the very end and always inspired everyone who came close to him. After having been struck by lightning in 2018 with the news of a rare cancer, he took life soon after as it came and he fought the many battles that came with it,? the statement from his family said

?Surrounded by his love, his family for whom he most cared about, he left for heavenly abode, leaving behind truly a legacy of his own. We all pray and hope that he is at peace. And to resonate and part with his words he had said, 'As if I was tasting life for the first time, the magical side of it',? it added.

The news of his death was first confirmed by his "Piku" director Shoojit Sircar who sent his condolences to the family and doffed his hat to the actor's fighting spirit

"My dear friend Irfaan. You fought and fought and fought. I will always be proud of you.. we shall meet again.. condolences to Sutapa and Babil.. you too fought, Sutapa you gave everything possible in this fight. Peace and Om shanti. Irfaan Khan salute," the director said on Twitter.

Irrfan's death came the morning after news that he had been admitted to the ICU with a colon infection.

The self-effacing National Award winner, who acted in films as diverse as ?Life of Pi?, ?The Namesake? and ?Haasil?, had stayed away from the public eye after his diagnosis in 2018 when he went to the UK for treatment.

He returned home in 2019 and shot for "Angrezi Medium", the sequel to his 2017 hit "Hindi Medium". However, his health condition prevented him from promoting the movie, which hit the theatres in March just before the lockdown that began on March 25.

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