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Correcting Freddie on “Skin Colour” in Bollywood

Jun 09, 2013 Letters

 

Dear Editor,
Freddie Kissoon penned several pieces recently about “skin pigmentation” in Indian movies claiming that dark actors are rejected. That is not correct as there are many outstanding and popular Indian actors (male and female) who are dark skinned.  The iconic Amitabh and Hema, for example, are “dark or brown skinned”.  Freddie seems to have an obsession and an inferiority complex on skin colour – perhaps because of his own dark complexion and the lightness of his better half and perhaps because of his rejection by his “in laws” as Mulvi Hamid so informed us in a letter published in Kaieteur News recently.
It does not appear Freddie knows much about the Indian film industry, the largest in the world producing over 1500 films annually. I travel to India often and also studied there.  I  visited several film studios and industries in Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, etc. and am very familiar with leading personalities in the film industry interviewing several of them.  I went to several performances where dark skin actors were the leading entertainers.  Freddie’s comments on Indian film favoring “lightness” industry are misleading and too broad a generalization and needs correction.
As it is throughout the world, and I have also traveled worldwide, people are attracted to lighter shades of color. There is voluminous literature on this topic from sociologists and anthropologists.  Freddie should take the time to familiarize himself with some of them instead of making broad, unsubstantiated statements. Even in Guyana, people are attracted to lighter color and seek ways to “lighten” themselves.  Even Freddie tried to lighten himself.  Much has been written on how lighter skinned people were considered the “privileged” group in colonial Guyanese society just below the colonialists and planter class in the pecking order of status. Thus, being attracted to light color is not unique to any society.
Freddie should read D. Lowenthal on color in the Caribbean as well as other articles in “Daedalus” and the works of sociologists and anthropologists (M.G Smith, Jayawardena, etc.) on the color continuum in Guyana and the Caribbean. These researchers revealed that people have sought to lighten their color or choose a mating partner that would result in light skinned children.  Even Freddie suffers from that complex as we learn from his
Behavior by other writers.
Freddie asserted that the leading actors in India are light skinned. That is far from being accurate and the comment exposes Freddie’s limited knowledge of India’s entertainment industry. One should realize that India has a lot of movie industries; Bollywood is only part of the industry. There are also Tollywood and Kollywood, etc. The deep South produces the most films and almost all of the actors from the South are ‘dark’ in complexion.  Among leading dark skin actors are Miss World Priyanka Chopra, Rajnikanth (of Ra One Fame), Mithun, Padmini, Deepika, Mughda, Menakshi, Bipasha, Sunil Shetty, Sameera, Lakshmi, Diana Hayden, Mallika Sherawat and Mallaika Arora Khan, Jian Khan (who died last week), Raima Sen, Konkona Sen, Tanushree Dutta, Koena Mitra, Freida Pinto (of Slum Lord fame), Smita Patil, etc.  Also, it should be noted that dark skin models dominate the modeling industry and dark skin singers also dominate the song industry as well.
Dravidian or dark skin entertainers are very talented and in demand in the south in the filmi industry. Contray to what Freddie believes, not having “a fair skin” has not prevented many Indians from making a mark in the entertainment industry.
People like Freddie seem to suffer from a complex on color. Such a complex as Guyanese Psychotherapist Dr. Lutchman Narain explains unfortunately leads to “depression, low Self-esteem and mental disorder”.
Vishnu Bisram

 

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