Bipasha Basu Opens Up On Colourism After HUL Decides To Drop ‘Fair’ From ‘Fair & Lovely’, Actress Shares How Her Duskiness Was Always A Discussion

Hindustan Unilever chairman Sanjiv Mehta announced on June 25 that the company has decided to re-brand its popular skin whitening cream, Fair & Lovely. He shared that HUL has decided to drop the word ‘Fair’ from ‘Fair & Lovely’ cream. This decision by the FCMG major has been appreciated by many across the country. Bollywood actress Bipasha Basu has also opened up that how wrong it is to sell such a dream that ‘only fair is lovely and beautiful when the majority of the country is brown skinned’. Bipasha Basu has also talked about how her duskiness has always been a point of discussion right from when she was young and even after she made her debut in cinema. HUL to Remove 'Fair' From Skin Care Brand Fair & Lovely, New Name Sent For Approval.

Bipasha Basu’s post on colourism is meaningful and something that every ‘dusky-skinned’ girl faces right from her childhood. The actress wrote, “From the time I was growing up I heard this always, ‘Bonnie is darker than Soni. She is little dusky na?’ Even though my mother is a dusky beauty and I look a lot like her. I never knew why that would be a discussion by distant relatives when I was a kid.” Bipasha also mentioned how her skin colour ‘dusky’ became the first adjective. She said, “Soon at 15/ 16 I started modelling and then I won the supermodel contest ... all newspapers read ... dusky girl from Kolkata is the winner. I wondered again why Dusky is my first adjective ??? Then I went to New York and Paris to work as a model and I realised my skin colour was exotic there and I got more work and attention because of it. Another discovery of mine”. Malavika Mohanan Shares a Thought-Provoking Post on How People Differentiate Between ‘Beautiful’ and ‘Ugly’.

Bipasha Basu also revealed about her journey in the world of cinema. She further stated, “Once I came back into India and film offers started... and finally I did my first film and from an absolute Ajnabee to Hindi film industry ...I suddenly was accepted and loved. But the adjective stayed which I started liking and loving by then. DUSKY girl wows the audiences in her debut film. In most of my articles for all the work I did, my duskiness seemed to be the main discussion.. it attributed to my sex appeal apparently. And sexy in Bollywood started getting accepted widely. I never really understood this... To me sexy is the personality not just the colour of your skin...why my skin colour only sets me apart from the conventional actresses at that time. But that’s the way it was. I didn’t really see much of difference but I guess people did.”

Bipasha Basu’s Post On Colourism

Bipasha Basu also shared that she turned down several skin care endorsement products and stuck to her principle. Talking about HUL’s decision, she mentioned, “It’s a mammoth step from the brand... and other brands should follow in the same footsteps soon.”

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 26, 2020 10:51 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).