we have seen people raising their voice against colourism after the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement in the US. In Indian culture and society, skin colour has always mattered. At some point in time, we all have witnessed some kind of colourism in our life and somewhere the reason behind this form of racism is the advertisement of fairness products we all see here and there. The advertisements particularly show a dark-skinned version of the celebrities as "unhappy" and they look happier as they become fairer. While there are many Bollywood celebs who are making money out of promoting fairness products, there are also some Bollywood celebs who directly rejected deals from major companies because they don't want to propagate the wrong idea about beauty. Here are some top Bollywood celebs who turned down fairness cream brands promotion despite the crores offered to them:
1. Sushant Singh Rajput: The late Bollywood directly rejected fairness cream advertisements worth Rs. 15 crores. He said he will never promote an idea that shows one skin tone is better than another and that is every celebrity’s duty to stop promoting this colorism.
2. Ranbir Kapoor: Once in an interview, Ranbir Kapoor revealed that he refused to endorse a fair product as it will deepen the roots of colorism in Indian society.
3. Kangana Ranaut: Kangana is one of those actors who have always been vocal against racism. She revealed that once she turned down a deal worth 2 crores saying that promoting a fairness cream, will propagate a wrong idea in the youth of our country.
4. Randeep Hooda: The Highway actor once rejected a fairness product advertisement saying beauty doesn’t lie in skin color. He added that he never understands the obesity of Indian culture with fair skin.
5. Anushka Sharma: While having an interview in 2015, Anushka Sharma addressed society’s obsession with fair skin as a social taboo. She said she will never endorse anything that propagates wrong ideas like racism and sexism among the youngsters.
6. Banita Sandhu: The budding Bollywood actor who came into the limelight after her acting performance in October was once asked to promote a fairness product, she turned down that deal saying that she never endorse a fairness product to the string of racist narrative attached to it.
7. Taapsee Pannu: Taapsee is one of those Bollywood actors who strongly supported the government’s initiative of banning fairness creams’ advertisements. She said that she will never endorse fairness as a beauty standard.
8. Kalki Koechlin: though she endorses an anti-aging brand, she said that she will never promote fairness creams. Kalki said that dark skin should be celebrated as a beauty standard around the world. She also called out society's obsession with fairness as a beauty standard.
