Bigg Boss 14's Naina Singh to Nia Sharma: TV celebs who faced brutal comments and role rejections for being dark-skinned

Many female actors have often complained of being victims of discrimination on several basis. Many actors are of the opinion that a fair-skinned girl is always preferred over a dusky talented girl. A few high-profiled actors from the television industry narrated the brutal experiences they were put through because of their brown colour. Suchitra Pillai, Naina Singh, Paruul Chauhan, and many other actors have battled the odds and made their name in the industry: Let's take a look:

Before entering the Bigg Boss 14 house, Naina Singh had in an interview to ETimes TV spoke about several rejections she received due to her complexion. The actress said, "I have a dusky skin. I have been rejected so many times right on my face because of my dusky colour. They have chosen a girl who’s fair and less talented and doesn’t even know how to act. Whoever says that colour discrimination doesn’t exist is lying. I was trying my luck in the Telugu industry and an incident happened with me. I went for a meeting with a very reputed company. I won’t take the name. They told me that my acting is good and since I pick up languages very easily so that was also ok. But suddenly they told me, ‘Everything is fine, jaake tube light kha lo toh gori jaogi (go and eat tube light and you will become fair) I didn’t get selected and was told I have to do something extraordinary. I was so heartbroken. I cried a river that day. I would get rejected often and would still be fine but that day it was so harsh. Who says like that? I felt really bad.

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The actress, who made a comeback after Saath Phere in Shaadi Mubarak, quit the show after a brief period of time. In one of the earlier interviews, Rajshree asked the meaning of beauty? She said, "Why do people add the adjective ‘dusky’ and call me a dusky beauty? Why do they differentiate between dark and fair complexions? Beauty is beauty. If they are registering that I am beautiful why add dark to it?"

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Model-turned-actress Suchitra Pillai shared, "I love being called dusky rather than ‘fair and lovely’. It’s just an adjective for dark complexion and by no standards is it a derogatory term." She recollected, "I started 20 years ago in this industry when everyone wanted to have those pink and white beautiful women but my colour has been appreciated everywhere I’ve been in this world.”

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"I don’t agree that it’s wrong to be called ‘dusky’. Having been in this industry for many years now, I used to face such discrimination initially but I won’t say that my skin tone has ever let me down," said Resshmi, who played the role of Bhoomi in Ekta Kapoor's serial.

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"I am beautiful and I feel proud when people call me ‘dusky beauty’ or even ‘black beauty’. I don’t see any reason to be ashamed of this or hated being called so," told Bidaai actress Paruul Chauhan.

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Actress Nia Sharma said that she doesn't care whether she's "dusky or brown", stating, "I never went to my doctor and said I want to be 'fair'. I worked a lot on my face and skin and got treated and that's all that matters." She further said that when someone calls her "ugly or overrated", she accepts it.

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Kashmera Shah has aged gracefully and even in her 40s, she can give an easy run to the younger actresses for their money. Speaking about being targetted because of her complexion, she told ETimes TV recently, "While growing up it definitely shook my confidence, I wanted to be white like my mother. I would put powder on my face and wanted to be fair and white like my mother. I used to cry and say why I am not like my mother, white. Earlier, the makeup men I worked with in films, they wanted to make me look fair on-screen by applying makeup, but luckily my director during Yes Boss, he was very sure that he did not want a very fair heroine. He told keep her colour and don't change. Let her be dusky. Luckily, when I came in, things changed and people liked dusky beauties. People started forgetting the fair and lovely concept. I don't hate fair people. My mother, kids are white. But I felt really left out. The makers in the industry worked with me because they liked my work, my body and dance. The actress added that she did not face discrimination in the film industry but in her personal life, she did."

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Mitali Nag, played the role of a village girl in Afsar Bitiya, who goes on to become a collector. Speaking about existence of racism in the industry, she said, "Initially, I did face few hurdles in my acting career because of my dark skin tone. I was rejected many times. In fact, sometimes it happens now also. I still face the situation where people don’t call you back. And I remember during Afsar Bitiya time, I did come across some people for whom only fair skin was important. No matter, how good an actor you are; it was not taken into consideration by many of them. But yes, television is progressing now; the situation is not the same. I don’t know how long we as actors will have to face color blind casting in this industry. I am desperately waiting for that day where people just don’t see what color you are and they just accept you the way you are.”

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Ulka Gupta revealed that she had got her first role of Savri in ‘Saat Phere’ because of her complexion and how she was very proud of that. But soon after, directors stopped saying no to her directly and rejected her everywhere because of her dark skin colour. But she did not give up and her struggle continued, until she got recognition in the south industry. "I was very passionate about acting but surprisingly at a very young age, I came across the dark side of our industry. After wrapping up Resham Dankh, my father and I used to go for the auditions on a daily basis. And every time, I was disappointed to see that the producers were looking for a fair girl. According to them, fair girl represents an upmarket girl. I was rejected so many times just for the sake of my dark skin,” said the actress.

(Photo: Instagram)