The second season of the Netflix show Bridgerton made waves like a tsunami on the internet. People especially loved the character Kate Sharma and her romance with Anthony Bridgerton. But the story has a twist: it is set in Regency-era Britain when royalty was all white. Yet, in the show, the characters that belong to royalty are black and brown. Kate Sharma is one such brown character.
In an interview with the New York Times, the show’s creator commented on its colourblind approach. “That would imply, that colour and race were never considered,” he said, “when colour and race are part of the show.” The makers did not just want to show people with different colours onscreen. They wanted these people to be represented. Kate Sharma’s character is fascinating because she is a dark-skinned Indian. Something Indians don’t see even in their cinema.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui is one of the few Bollywood actors who pointed out this problem. In an interview with an entertainment magazine, he said he was rejected for many years simply because he had dark skin. “I fought against [racism] for many years, and I hope that dark-skinned actresses are made heroines,” he said, adding “it’s very important. There is a bias that exists in the industry which needs to end for better films to be made.”
That racism and colourism that go hand in hand can be seen more clearly through Bollywood songs. There are too many songs that complement fair skin. From ‘goriya churana mera jeeya’ (fair woman don’t steal my heart) to ‘tenu kaala chashmah jachda ay gore mukhdepe’ (black glasses suit your fair skin), this trend has been passed on through generations. Such songs cannot be sung if it is a dark-skinned actress, which points out the larger problem of preference for fair skin in Bollywood.
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