Topics of colorism and shadeism have been spoken about by many celebrities in the Bollywood industry, from Masaba to Bipasha Basu. Actor Abhay Deol also slammed almost every Bollywood celebrity, like Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone who have chosen to endorse fairness creams in the past.
Recently, in an interview with Cinema Express, actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui opened up about having an inferiority complex due to his skin color. He admits, “I too grew up applying these fairness creams, expecting miraculous results. In fact, I remember that once, I didn’t even realize that the cream I was using wasn’t Fair and Lovely, but some fake called Fare and Lovely. I spent a lot of time trying to make my skin fairer.”
The actor revealed how Bollywood became a major factor feeding that inferiority complex, but he thankfully realized to start working on his craft rather than focussing on looks.
He explains, “In mainstream Bollywood cinema, is there any really black-looking actor, male or female? I had an inferiority complex at first. But I guess the good thing is, I realized that since I couldn’t do anything about my face, I would be better served to focus on my craft. I knew I was nothing when it came to my personality or my looks. It took some time to come out of that trauma, but I’m glad I made that decision.”
He also talked about the importance of having friends as a support system with whom one can share their thoughts and feelings. He concludes, “Actors, like anybody else, need people they can talk to, people who would actually listen to them discuss problems. I think listening is an underappreciated aspect of our lives. People need to start doing it more. We should all learn to listen.”
We are glad that the actor overcame false societal standards of beauty, and emerged as the confident actor that we know of today. Have you too experienced colorism in your life? Tell us!
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