I'm ashamed Bollywood celebs endorse fairness creams: Kangana

Actress believes women should not be stripped of their confidence and self worth

Bollywood's Queen has spoken, and it's not in favour of celebs who advocate the use of fairness creams.

In an interview with France 24, Kangana Ranaut voiced her utmost concern regarding celebrities endorsing skin whitening creams without thinking twice about the repercussions.

"It's very sad and I find it extremely humiliating. Indian women are beautiful and should not be subjected to this kind of discrimination. They're being stripped of their confidence and self worth," she said.

She added, "I am very ashamed that many celebrities endorse it. I can't do it, I oppose it."

Read: From B-grade films, today I’m the number one actress in India: Kangana Ranaut



Upon being asked whether she refused fairness commercials because her sister is also dark skinned, Kangana immediately interjected: "So am I! I'm a brown girl and I'm so proud of myself and I wouldn't want to be any other way. I get so much attention being like this," she said.

"I'm surprised that people who are in the A-league [in Bollywood], and who [common] people look up to, are the ones who are endorsing it," added the actress.

She finds this act 'painful' and calls it 'criminal'.

Kangana is not scared to speak her mind due to which she often finds herself being singled out.

"I don't know how to be any other way, so I'll just be myself. It's a shame you're called out for being outspoken as opposed to a guy who will be called cool or inspirational but when a women does it she comes across as someone who's opinionated. But I won't change," said the adamant actress.

From signing films like Fashion and then playing a completely different role in Queen, Kangana shares what the transition was like.

"My earlier choices were limiting me," she said. "And I won't say just my choices because I wasn't offered many roles and I wasn't doing really well, so I was trapped in neurotic characters, but Queen has been a life changing experience," said Kangana.



Read: 'It's justified': Kangana on being the highest paid female actor in Bollywood

Having been in the industry for about a decade, the actress has dealt with her fair share of criticism and backlash. It wasn't easy for her to reach the top being an 'outsider' in the film industry.

"It's very hard, just like any other industry, and also because there's 130 billion of us [laughs], a lot more competition!" she replies lightheartedly.

"It's very hard to break into an industry of which you don't have much of an understanding of or you don't know many people. I call it 'A Journey Of A Thousand Miles'," said the actress.

Kangana is gearing up for promotions of upcoming film Katti Batti in which she is starring alongside Imran Khan. This highest paid actress in B-Town has two more films lined up for next year and at this rate it seems like nothing is going to stop this actress.