There is no denying that Bollywood actor Bipasha Basu is a bold and confident actress. Even though she doesn't fit the age-old definition of beautiful that says only fair women are beautiful, she loves her dusky skin color as it makes her unique and stands out of the rest. However, there was a time during her young days when she faced comments like she is 'darker'. In a powerful Instagram post, Bipasha opened up about her journey of breaking skin color conventions and how she accepted her skin color beautifully.
As Hindustan Unilever, on Thursday, said that it will drop the word "fair" from its skin-lightening cream Fair & Lovely, Bipasha Basu penned down her life journey and said, "From the time I was growing up I heard this always,”Bonnie is darker than Soni.She is little dusky na?“Even though my mother is a dusky beauty and I look a lot like her.I never knew why that would be a discussion by distant relatives when I was a kid. Soon at 15/ 16 I started modelling and then I won the supermodel contest ... all newspapers read ... dusky girl from Kolkata is the winner.I wondered again why Dusky is my first adjective ???"
"Then I went to New York and Paris to work as a model and I realised my skin colour was exotic there and I got more work and attention because of it. Another discovery of mine:) Once I came back into India and film offers started... and finally I did my first film and from an absolute Ajnabee to Hindi film industry ...I suddenly was accepted and loved. But the adjective stayed which I started liking and loving by then.DUSKY girl wows the audiences in her debut film. In most of my articles for all the work I did,my duskiness seemed to be the main discussion.. it attributed to my sex appeal apparently.And sexy in Bollywood started getting accepted widely.I never really understood this... To me sexy is the personality not just the colour of your skin...why my skin colour only sets me apart from the conventional actresses at that time.But that’s the way it was.I didn’t really see much of difference but I guess people did."
She added: "There was a strong mindset of Beauty and how an actress should look and behave.I was DIFFERENT as it was pointed out. Didn’t really stop me from being and doing all that I loved. Well you see I was confident and proud of who I was from childhood.My skin colour didn’t define me ... even though I love it and wouldn’t want it to be any different ever. Many skin care endorsements with loads of money was offered to me in the last 18 years ( some were very tempting)... but I stuck to my principle always."
ALSO READ | Fair & Lovely skin cream to drop 'Fair' from its name. Twitter erupts with memes
"All this needs to stop. This wrong dream that we are selling ... that only fair is lovely and beautiful when the majority of the country is brown skinned. It’s a deep rooted stigma. It’s a mammoth step from the brand... and other brands should follow in the same footsteps soon."
On a related note, during the lockdown, Bipasha Basu is spending quality time with her husband Karan Singh Grover during the lockdown. She keeps treating fans with photos of their special moments and also encourages them to stay fit while at home. Recently, she shared a photograph of the dish she made for Karan. In the image, she wrote: "Chef Bonnie's deli Sunday special... Soybean and sweet potato burger and mango milkshake! Happy hubby!."
Karan also took to Instagram, where he posed photos with the dishes and called Bipasha a natural. Alongside the image, he wrote: "Somebody stop me!AThank you my love! @bipashabasuA You're a natural!!! And I'm lucky...naturally!! #chefbonnie#godburger."
On the work front, the two will next be seen sharing screen space in the upcoming film "Aadat".
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