Indians and their obsession with looking “white”
Fairness creams, hair coloring products, face bleaching kits you’ll find all of these in abundance in the Indian super market. People in India are easily influenced by the media and with the media promoting more and more “white-looking” actresses and it’s no surprise that girls are trying their best to brighten their skin tones.
The condition was not so bad a decade ago when Kajol, Shilpa Shetty, Raveena, Shri Devi and Madhuri were considered beautiful but as India got westernized so did their thinking. Indian men started to prefer “white” looking women. And so there was the sudden rise of Aishwarya Rai who had fair skin and blue eyes. A rarity in India.
But things haven’t stopped here. Atleast Aishwarya Rai was Indian but the new breed of actresses are not even that! Katrina Kaif is a British citizen who works in India on an employement visa! Jacqueline Fernandez is a Sri Lankan. Kalki Koechlin is of french descent. Giselli Monteiro is a Brazilian model. Uff!
In a population of 1 billion don’t we have enough women who can act?
I have friends who are aspiring actresses. They are talented and beautiful but they will never make it. Because the standard of beauty put forth by the Indian film industry (Bollywood) is genetically impossible.
Indian girls typically look like this (the majority of them, not the ones who are rich and spoilt in Mumbai):
But want to look like this:
Katrina and Kalki
Giselle
Is it possible? No Is it crazy? Yes
Whats the future of Indian cinema? God knows!
I just hope it involves some real Indian women.
