Tadka question – When Karisma Kapoor replaces Bipasha Basu recently in a commercial, only because Bipasha isn’t fair enough, how fair is the whole affair?
Earlier it could just have been another piece of news for us, but the recent incident in which a leading jewellery brand replaced Bipasha Basu with Karishma Kapoor, at the nth minute, only because Bipasha Basu wasn’t fair, has opened a can of worms in the Indian media. This is the same country which enjoyed the attention it got, in the guise of Shilpa Shetty-Jade Goody spat, yet all this time racism of all kinds has been prevalent in India, the land of love.
While there has been debate over the fairness obsession many time in the past, this is the first time it has attained such an ugly face. It is in stark contrast to at least three incidents, where Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, an Indian who is considered to be the most beautiful woman in the world, had herself got a tanned look. First she did it in the blockbuster Dhoom:2, sizzling in every bit of the screen space, then she appeared in a Nakshatra Diamond Jewellery commercial, tanned and beautiful as ever, and thirdly, her warrior act in The Last Legion, where she played an Indian warrior ally from Kerala. Dark is, and can be beautiful was proven time and again, but the Bipasha Basu incident has charred all those claims.
Bipasha , who has proved herself not just in front of the camera, but off it as well, hasn’t given any statement on the incident till now, even though she is going to walk the ramp for Wills India Fashion Week, starting today. It must be noted that the woman replacing her, Karisma Kapoor, is an out of work (virtually by choice) former actress, living in the glory of her past fame, who herself allegedly went under the knife before Raja Hindustani (1996). If there is anything expected of her, it’s just that she should kick the jewellery brand out, in support of the colour bias that has been done against her successor in the industry, Bipasha Basu.
India, which has seen dusky sizzlers like Noyonika Chatterjee, Nethra Raghumaran, Sheetal Malhar, Carol Gracious and brilliant actresses like Nandita Das, Raima Sen, Chitrangdha Singh (often touted as Smita Patil‘s return), and above all Konkona Sen Sharma, will continue to be obsessed with the lighter shades of false beauty. And while TV channels continue showing the Fair And Lovely ads, which are sick to the point of associating fairness with resounding success, it would be surprising, if any action will be taken against those who should themselves go red with shame for playing this hypocritical game.
Readers may leave their comments below.
Why on earth do you put Aishwarya Rai as an exampe of color acceptance? Are you COMPLETELY unaware and ignorant of the fact that she has endorsed fairness creams in the past? Do some goddammned research before you put Aishwarya Rai, of all people, as an example.
It is disgusting that India is so obsessed with fair skin. Racism is deeply ingrained into our culture, right from the advent of Aryan culture in India, with their bloody vile color-based caste system. Ever wondered why Brahmins are fair and milky while the sudras are black as coal?