Skin colour and the Indian woman

Priyanka Chopra is my most favorite Bollywood actress of the present era.

- BASAB DASGUPTA

I am a fan of both her striking beauty as well as her acting talents in both Hindi and English languages. She is one of the very few actors who has won the hearts of viewers on both sides of the globe. She is also a talented singer and can make a career just by singing.

In an interview with the Vogue (India) magazine several years ago, she regretted the fact that she used to promote a skin-lightening cream in TV commercials before her Bollywood career took off. She reportedly said that she was somewhat insecure about her dark "dusty" complexion and used the cream herself, but now she is comfortable in her own skin and proud of her color. Ironically, she proved herself that her beauty, talents and personality are what really matter for success and not the color of her skin.

When she married Nick Jonas of the musical group "Jonas Brothers," a Caucasian guy, I thought that her children would now definitely have a fairer complexion than hers, making her happy.

I also read that Chitrangada Singh felt that she was side-stepped for many important Bollywood roles because of her darker complexion. Other famous actresses who struggled with their skin color as an impediment to their careers included Kajol, Sri Devi, Bipasha Basu, Freida Pinto and even Deepika Padukone. It is not just in Bollywood; women of fairer complexion are in demand in all strata of Indian society when it comes to arranging their marriages, not to mention careers in many professions which require public visibility.

We have been brainwashed from our childhood that women of fairer complexion are more desirable. Names like "Gori," "Gulabi," and "Chanda" are a testament to this mindset. The parents of girls with dark complexion often end up paying rather large dowry amounts in finding suitable grooms for their daughters.