How cinema stoked Tamil Nadu's fair obsession

As the country debates about the responsibility of a cosmetic product in furthering the obsession of fair skin, the role of films in propagating this idea cannot be far behind. The Tamil film industry is equally responsible for attaching importance to this unwanted bias.The glitz and glamour of the arclights have gravitated towards a preoccupation with external beauty. But it is a reflection of society as a whole. Last month when Hindustan Unilever dropped ‘fair’ from the name of its popular skin whitening product, it invited a lot of scepticism as many saw it as cosmetic change. Last week, the same product came back as ‘Glow & Lovely’, reaffirming the fact that colour, which is rooted in the caste system and colonial subjugation, is a deep-rooted problem that will take much longer to fade.So Fair and Lovely will now be called Glow and Lovely? C’mon Hindustan Lever. For years you’ve been profiting by de… https://t.co/uNMTH1Mxe7— Shekhar Kapur (@shekharkapur) 1593694912000Mainstream commercial Tamil films have stretched it a bit too far by jarringly imposing the concept that for a woman to be liked and accepted, skin colour and make-up are key. The same standards do not apply to men, for who the rugged dark look is a norm. In 'Baba,' Manisha Koirala croons at Rajinikanth, "Un Niram Pola En Niram Maara Varam Onnu Tharuvaay Baba…" (Baba, my one wish is to be the same colour as you). medium76829819But we couldn’t have chanced upon Suhasini Maniratnam as 'Arukkani' in 'Gopurangal Saivathillai' in the 1980s, Radha as 'Kuyil' in ‘Muthal Mariyathai’ or recently Nayanthaara as ‘Bhavani' in 'Airaa', if filmmakers had given in to prejudice rather than talent. Director P Bharathiraja was among those with a keen eye for talent. His strategy was to choose heroines who looked closer to reality. Balu Mahendra too never wanted his heroines to wear make-up, hence we got to see Archana in 'Veedu' and Silk Smitha in 'Moondram Pirai' in a different naturally elegant avatar. Rewind further, actors like Saroja Devi, Savithri, Manorama and K R Vijaya made a mark with their talent, diction and hardwork.In the 1990s, there was a surge of “Bombay imports” — actors who were in demand for the way they looked. At the time these actors were also needed to be good dancers as the separate "item dancer" was done away with. The trend of fair complexioned actors in films that gave importance to song and dance routine, and worked with dubbed dialogues took off. The artists from the southern states who could compete had to be fair-complexioned as well. "The very word fairness is unfair”, says actor-director Subaguna Rajan. “Girls from Bombay was a fantasy that was thrust upon the audience," he said. The films that cast actors irrespective of their language skills or acting talent, ended up objectifying the women. "There’s a scene in 'Thozha' where actor Karthi after seeing Tamannaah rattles out a dialogue that says ‘do such girls truly exist’. Basically, they are not considered closer to reality even in dialogues. Casting is crucial. Fair skin shouldn’t be relevant anymore," says Rajan.Aishwarya Rajesh, known for her natural look, says when she did the brand endorsement for the product Fair & Lovely she never felt anything odd. "When the company approached me, I made sure I did not endorse something I didn’t believe in. Besides, the advertisement concentrated more on skin glow than on whitening per se. When I had apprehensions, the company explained that they wanted to change the perception about the product. The concept was different, so I agreed to the assignment." medium76829588Pointing out how preference of fair skin is internalised, social scientist and senior fellow at Loyola College (autonomous) Bernard D’ Sami says, "History has been a history of colour. In Thomas Jefferson’s 1776 Independence declaration, the opening sentence says ‘all men are created equal’. Yet, the world is still fighting to eradicate discrimination. In films, actors Saritha and Srividya, who were dusky and talented left a longlasting impact on the audience. Now, there are no such roles for actresses when they share screen space with big-ticket male stars," he says. Apart from the colour aspect, the 'Dharma Durai' actor says she expects stories should have more depth and role for women. "We need more screen space. I am not referring to women-centric movies, normally there’s scant space for heroines. I would want to do a role like Simran in 'Vaali.' In fact, in the 1990s, there were scripts that had heroines with more substantial parts." Aishwarya says she is confident about the present set of young directors who prefer to bet on talent than skin colour. “When I did 'Vada Chennai', Vetrimaaran wanted me to look like a girl next door, which was well-suited to the script.” Coming from Balu Mahendra school of learning, he is one director who never encourages his heroines to look ‘unnatural’. 76827528‘Kanpuriye’ director Ashish Aryan, admits that in a country of brown skin not many women relate to actor’s on screen, rather they end up propagating the false idea about beauty. "The matrimonial adverts for bride and look requirements for actresses are the same. This mad obsession with fair skin is making our society in cinema superficial and we must introspect deeply. When dusky heroine Frieda Pinto got international fame with ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, many realised that they couldn’t spot their own talent because she wasn’t "fair.”boxcontentIs the tide turning?Hindustan Unilever announced it will stop using the word 'Fair' in its brand name 'Fair & Lovely'. This prompted various companies like L'Oréal to remove words like 'whitening', 'white', 'fair', 'fairness' from skincare products. Other companies like Johnson & Johnson exited the face space globally. Companies like Shaadi.com recently removed the skin colour filter from the website after US-based Hetal Lakhani started an online petition against the website's complexion filter, which allowed users to search for options on the basis of skin colour.Untitled Carousel 76684755