By Akanksha Gupta Last Updated:
With Hindustan Unilever announcing their decision to drop the word 'Fair' from their skin-whitening cream, Fair and Lovely, we might have taken a step towards breaking the stigma around the dark complexion but still need to go a long way when it comes to eliminating discrimination on the basis of skin tone. We still need to urge everyone to rise above the bias against the skin complexion and celebrate different shades of skin. Kudos to the women, who are comfortable in their own skin and have risen above the insecurities set by the society regarding the complexion. (Also Read: Shveta Salve Shares A Passionate Kiss With Hubby, Hermit, Gets Trolled, Gives A Savage Reply)
On June 25, 2020, Unilever announced that their product, Fair & Lovely brand name will be changed and they have decided to remove the word 'Fair' from it. Tweeting their announcement, they have written, "We’re committed to a skin care portfolio that's inclusive of all skin tones, celebrating the diversity of beauty. That’s why we’re removing the words ‘fairness’, ‘whitening’ & ‘lightening’ from products, and changing the Fair & Lovely brand name." In response to their decision, many celebrities have come forward to speak about experience with the skin complexion discrimination and one such B-town star is Bipasha Basu Singh Grover.
Lauding the Unilever's decision of dropping the word ‘fair’ from its product name, Bipasha Basu Singh Grover recalled how 'dusky' has been her first adjective and her journey of breaking the conventions by accepting her skin colour beautifully. In a long note, Bipasha began with how her skin complexion was always compared with her sister by their relatives, "From the time I was growing up I heard this always, ”Bonnie is darker than Soni. She is little dusky na?“ Even though my mother is a dusky beauty and I look a lot like her.I never knew why that would be a discussion by distant relatives when I was a kid. Soon at 15/16 I started modelling and then I won the supermodel contest... all newspapers read... dusky girl from Kolkata is the winner. I wondered again why Dusky is my first adjective???"
Further detailing her professional journey where her skin colour was always a topic of discussion, Bipasha Basu Singh Grover added, "Then I went to New York and Paris to work as a model and I realised my skin colour was exotic there and I got more work and attention because of it. Another discovery of mine. Once I came back into India and film offers started... and finally I did my first film and from an absolute Ajnabee to Hindi film industry... I suddenly was accepted and loved. But the adjective stayed which I started liking and loving by then. DUSKY girl wows the audiences in her debut film." (Also Read: Shoaib Ibrahim Gives A Savage Reply To A Troll Asking If His Wife, Dipika Kakar Is Hindu Or Muslim)
Bipasha Basu Singh Grover revealed how she was always pointed out for being 'different' amid the set mindset of beauty and how an actress should look. She continued, "In most of my articles for all the work I did, my duskiness seemed to be the main discussion.. it attributed to my sex appeal apparently. And sexy in Bollywood started getting accepted widely. I never really understood this... To me sexy is the personality not just the colour of your skin... why my skin colour only sets me apart from the conventional actresses at that time. But that’s the way it was. I didn’t really see much of difference but I guess people did. There was a strong mindset of Beauty and how an actress should look and behave. I was DIFFERENT as it was pointed out. Didn’t really stop me from being and doing all that I loved."
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Revealing that in her almost two-decade career, she had stuck to her principles by rejecting the various endorsements offers for skincare products and calling this a mammoth step, Bipasha Basu Singh Grover concluded, "Well you see I was confident and proud of who I was from childhood. My skin colour didn’t define me ... even though I love it and wouldn’t want it to be any different ever. Many skin care endorsements with loads of money was offered to me in the last 18 years ( some were very tempting)... but I stuck to my principle always. All this needs to stop. This wrong dream that we are selling ... that only fair is lovely and beautiful when the majority of the country is brown skinned. It’s a deep rooted stigma. It’s a mammoth step from the brand... and other brands should follow in the same footsteps soon."
While her fellow celebrities and hubby, Karan Singh Grover showered Bipasha Basu Singh Grover with love in the comments section, an Insta user accused her for getting skin lightening and whitening treatment to have a fairer skin tone. An irked Bipasha gave a befitting reply to the troll and asked her to rise above hate. The user wrote, "You did Whiting therapy though bcs opinion matters for you!!you are beautiful." Lashing the user, Bipasha replied, "Really??? Thank you for telling me that. I have super sensitive skin and allergies. Have done 2 facials in my entire life because of it. But according to you I have done some lightening therapy???!!!! It’s amazing how an absolute stranger knows what I have done. Please rise above all this." (Also Read: Haarsh Limbachiyaa Trolls Wife Bharti Singh With 'This Could Be Us But' Meme, Here's How She Reacted)
Kudos to Bipasha for standing by her principles over all these years and being an inspiration to everyone out there to be comfortable and love their skin!
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