Unfairness Cream? Abhay Deol Feels Stars Should Not Endorse Fairness Creams.Bollywood Agrees

Arjun Rampal: “I agree with Abhay, I believe every colour is beautiful. I don’t understand why this misconception of me endorsing a fairness cream. I endorse Nivea products for men. There is a face wash in that category that works very well on dark spots primarily pigmentation. Which occurs due to skin damage in the sun. Infact all my commercials underline the fact that we arent selling fairness face whitening cream or  any product.”

Dia Mirza: “My first ad as a model was for a fairness cream. It was an opportunity to work, earn money at the time, I didn’t think much of it then. But with time and some awareness I personally don’t feel the need to endorse fairness products. It’s a personal choice, made from the belief that such an endorsement will continue to create divisions in our social structure, it creates a false sense of beauty and reinforces stereotypes that must be abolished.

Tapsee Pannu: “I don’t endorse one . I can only talk for myself and I can assure I won’t endorse any fairness products in the future as well.”

Pallavi Sharda: “I have always refused to endorse fairness creams. I cannot comment on other people’s individual choices. In general I think we need to put an end to discriminatory attitudes about the colour of people’s skin.”

Lilette Dubey: “Of course we shouldn’t endorse fairness creams ! No one should ! We are secret racists anyway .If celebrities whom people admire reinforce the idea of beauty to be only associated with a fair person then we are underlining these regressive ideas.”

Tiger Shroff: “To each his own. He(Abhay Deol) has the right  to voice his opinion”

Sara Jane Dias: “I don’t endorse fairness creams.”

Urmila Matondkar: “It’s everyone’s personal prerogative.He(Abhay Deol) shouldn’t if he feels so strongly.As for others it’s their own call depending on their personal measures of ethics.Honestly there are  many more relevant and important issues than this one in this country.”

Tannishtha Chatterjee: “I was not too long ago  ridiculed for my skin tone on a so-called ‘roast’ comedy show.It’s great that more and more people are speaking against it .Fairness products should not exist to begin with in a country where most of the population is brown skinned. This year on  Independence Day let us truly free ourselves of our colonial hangover. Let’s celebrate being proud of being in our skin.”

Sophie Choudry: “I think youngsters and the audience at large are hugely influenced by what celebrities do on screen and the messages they put across. That’s not to say that people aren’t intelligent enough to form their own opinions but one is definitely influenced by one’s idols. We have enough prejudices in our country already. It’s something we are constantly battling.. race, caste, religion, etc etc. I think it’s crucial for everyone, not just actors, to send out positive messages like girls are equal to boys and you are beautiful in the skin you are born with.. for us to a become a truly developed country!”

Nandita Das: “I can’t believe that any sensible and sensitive person doesn’t understand the repercussion such imagery and advertisements would have on young and vulnerable minds, but I guess the monies are big and people lose perspective. That is why it is important to have dialogue and debates around issues like this, in the public space.the glorification of the fair skin has been there in our films for a long long time. But it only reflects the bias of the society. In subtle and blatant ways, our language has things like, “uska rang saaf hai” for fairness as if the dark skin is dirty! It is tough to combat a mindset that finds many manifestations in songs, stories, myths and fables. I have wondered why there is a need to describe me through the colour of my skin, as I hope there is more to me! Or is it simply because it is rather rare for a female actor to be dark and therefore it becomes imperative to make a point about it.Any person’s complexion is only one of its many features or characteristics and therefore to give it undue importance would be to do injustice to the person. That’s all. While writing about me as an actor or my involvement in social issues, I see no pressing need to comment on the skin colour. Please understand that this is in reference to a context, where there has been an overt preference for the fair skin for centuries, and therefore it is important that we go deeper into its impact on people’s well being. I am lucky that my parents didn’t instill any kind of complex, but I have seen hundreds of young girls losing their confidence and developing low self -esteem because of being dark.”

Khushboo: “I completely agree with Abhay Deol and I endorse his views.As a responsible citizen I have never endorsed a fairness cream or any similar product that encourages women and men to feel inferior to one another. We bring racism in to our lives when we say fair is beautiful.Black is beautiful too , and so is every colour.”

Manisha Koirala: “I  love dark skin. Does that make me a  racist?”