Abhay Deol takes a dig at Bollywood celebs endorsing fairness campaigns
Celebrities like Kangana Ranaut, Ranbir Kapoor and Swara Bhaskar have turned down offers to endorse fairness products
PHOTO: FILE
Abhay Deol recently slammed his fellow Bollywood stars for endorsing fairness products. The Happy Bhag Jayegi star took to social media on Wednesday and expressed his thoughts about celebrities getting millions to promote such brands, reported Bollywood Hungama.
“There’s a lot more of these campaigns that are blatantly, and sometimes subtly, selling you the idea that whiter skin is better than darker skin. No one at the top of their game, in any field, is going to tell you that it is demeaning, false and racist. You have to see that for yourself. You have to stop buying into the idea that a particular shade is better than others,” he said, in a series of Facebook posts.
Abhay went on to post an image of Manto actor Nandita Das’ which read, “Stay Unfair. Stay Beautiful.” He then shifted to Shah Rukh Khan and the fairness creams that the Badshah of Bollywood endorses. “And the King Khan himself asking you. Being a man, why are you are still using a women’s fairness cream!? He’s clearly trying to make you a man and becoming whiter in the process is just a side effect," he stated.
Abhay Deol opens up about playing a Pakistani in 'Happy Bhag Jayegi'
This was followed by a take on a cosmetic brand advert featuring Sonam Kapoor. Abhay said, “This one’s kinda hard to defend as it does say on the side of the packaging that ‘Indian women agree, skin looks visibly fairer: 88%’.”
About Sidharth Malhotra’s latest commercial for a fairness product, the Oye Lucky Lucky Oye actor claimed, “If you look carefully, he has some black dust on his forehead. It’s only because he will be washing that off if the cream called Fair and Lovely.”
Even though Abhay may not have been paired opposite Piku star Deepika Padukone in any of his films, he took a dig at a brand that she has endorsed as well. He tweeted, “It says '2-IN-1 fairness cream’. If you notice, her eyes are also lighter than they are in real life. So ‘2-in-1’ must be you can put it in your eyes to change their colour. It’s not so much a fairness cream as it is a coloured lens for the eyes. And who wouldn’t want grey eyes eh? It’s the colour of Delhi in the winter. What a patriotic cream!”
Abhay Deol calls out Indian govt's 'hypocrisy' on Pakistani actors
Next in line was Shahid Kapoor. Abhay wrote, “His face is dark on the right only because that part of the paper was left exposed to the sun. They are clearly not trying to show a dark shade going on to light. Shame on you to think our celebs would be so irresponsible, there’s a good explanation for everything!”
His rant against the fairness creams continued with another cosmetic brand which had actor Ileana D’Cruz as its ambassador. “The reason the tube reads ‘White Beauty’ is because the photoshopping on her skin has made her look white and she’s clearly a beauty. No demeaning of dark skin here either. We are not a racist country!” Abhay said.
The stars who have reportedly turned down lucrative offers to endorse fairness creams included the likes of Kangana Ranaut, Ranbir Kapoor and Swara Bhaskar to name a few.
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“There’s a lot more of these campaigns that are blatantly, and sometimes subtly, selling you the idea that whiter skin is better than darker skin. No one at the top of their game, in any field, is going to tell you that it is demeaning, false and racist. You have to see that for yourself. You have to stop buying into the idea that a particular shade is better than others,” he said, in a series of Facebook posts.
Abhay went on to post an image of Manto actor Nandita Das’ which read, “Stay Unfair. Stay Beautiful.” He then shifted to Shah Rukh Khan and the fairness creams that the Badshah of Bollywood endorses. “And the King Khan himself asking you. Being a man, why are you are still using a women’s fairness cream!? He’s clearly trying to make you a man and becoming whiter in the process is just a side effect," he stated.
Abhay Deol opens up about playing a Pakistani in 'Happy Bhag Jayegi'
This was followed by a take on a cosmetic brand advert featuring Sonam Kapoor. Abhay said, “This one’s kinda hard to defend as it does say on the side of the packaging that ‘Indian women agree, skin looks visibly fairer: 88%’.”
About Sidharth Malhotra’s latest commercial for a fairness product, the Oye Lucky Lucky Oye actor claimed, “If you look carefully, he has some black dust on his forehead. It’s only because he will be washing that off if the cream called Fair and Lovely.”
Even though Abhay may not have been paired opposite Piku star Deepika Padukone in any of his films, he took a dig at a brand that she has endorsed as well. He tweeted, “It says '2-IN-1 fairness cream’. If you notice, her eyes are also lighter than they are in real life. So ‘2-in-1’ must be you can put it in your eyes to change their colour. It’s not so much a fairness cream as it is a coloured lens for the eyes. And who wouldn’t want grey eyes eh? It’s the colour of Delhi in the winter. What a patriotic cream!”
Abhay Deol calls out Indian govt's 'hypocrisy' on Pakistani actors
Next in line was Shahid Kapoor. Abhay wrote, “His face is dark on the right only because that part of the paper was left exposed to the sun. They are clearly not trying to show a dark shade going on to light. Shame on you to think our celebs would be so irresponsible, there’s a good explanation for everything!”
His rant against the fairness creams continued with another cosmetic brand which had actor Ileana D’Cruz as its ambassador. “The reason the tube reads ‘White Beauty’ is because the photoshopping on her skin has made her look white and she’s clearly a beauty. No demeaning of dark skin here either. We are not a racist country!” Abhay said.
The stars who have reportedly turned down lucrative offers to endorse fairness creams included the likes of Kangana Ranaut, Ranbir Kapoor and Swara Bhaskar to name a few.
Have something to add to the story? Share it in the comments below.