"Mocked about being dark": Bollywood actress Natasha Suri hails 'Fair and Lovely' move, narrates her struggle due to dusky complexion
Former Miss India World and Bollywood actress Natasha Suri has opened about her struggle due to her dusky complexion
Updated 7/5/2020, 1:34:00 PM
Hindustan Unilever's flagship skin whitening cream 'Fair and Lovely' changed its name to 'Glow and Lovely' after a 22-years-old Mumbai based activist Chandana Hiran filed an online petition. Chandana Hiran forced FMCG giant Hindustan Unilever to drop the name ‘Fair’ from its famous skin-whitening cream ‘Fair and Lovely’. Chandana Hiran, started a petition on Change.org, demanding that Fair & Lovely change their narrative after years of regressive advertisements and branding. While there is no direct mention of her petition in Unilever’s statement, she has garnered massive support with nearly 15,000 signatures in just two weeks.
Now Former Miss India World and Bollywood actress Natasha Suri has opened about her struggle due to her dusky complexion. Sharing her own photo Natasa wrote, "I have had a very interesting relationship with skin colour & beauty, throughout my life. I was born to a loving South Indian mother & a North Indian Punjabi father. My lovely sisters were pink n peaches in complexion, except me."
"Being the dusky dark-skinned lanky child amongst the fair & pretty siblings in my family, I suffered from valid low self esteem issues stemming out my colour complex. Whether its the neighbourhood or school, its common in our surroundings to get mocked/teased about being dark. Its common knowledge that most Indians are obsessed with fair skin, & the word beautiful is mostly attached with it," she added.
Natasa also questioned herself and also answered it, She said, "You have to have 'evolved' tastes to appreciate duskiness here. So did I feel beautiful as a child? No. Did I ever have the confidence that I could be a beauty queen/actress? Nope. Did I wish it deep down though? Yes. Did I feel that I fit into the social mould of beauty? Nope. Did I still build myself up mentally & emotionally with self development & self motivation? Yesss."
On her winning of Miss India World, she wrote, "Never had I imagined that this same duskiness would become my asset in my career when I grow up. For a girl who never felt beautiful in her childhood/teens due to society's beauty parameters & how it affected her self confidence, it's ironical that I happened to become a 'Beauty Queen' by winning the Miss India World title. Nature has its own strange ways to build you up."
