Abhay Deol Calls Out Bollywood Stars for Endorsing Fairness Creams

Abhay Deol makes several volatile social media posts against actors for endorsing fairness creams.

Abhay Deol goes all guns blazing against the desi obsession for fair skin. (Photo courtesy: Twitter)

Abhay Deol went all out on social media to criticise India’s obsession with fair skin and also called out actors from the film industry for shamelessly endorsing fairness creams. Abhay posted ads featuring everyone from Sonam to Shah Rukh Khan on his Facebook page to put his point across.

In a fairly long outburst on his FB page, Abhay began by saying:

WE ARE NOT A RACIST COUNTRY! I will prove it to you. In the pic below John holds a card with shades from white to dark. Hey! You can see the promise of darker skin too if you read the card from left to right! He’s not telling you to go from right to left! Duh!Even if the writing on the tube reads “Intensive FAIRNESS moisturiser”.It just means its ‘FAIR’ to all who use it.

Abhay Deol (Facebook)

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.

Abhay Deol (Facebook)

This one asks the question “How true is your FAIRNESS?”And further asks if you just have an “outer WHITE layer” or is your “radiant FAIRNESS from within?” It even has the words ‘Veda’ in the packaging and that goes to prove we are originally WHITE from within. Know your history folks!

Abhay Deol (Facebook)

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!

Abhay Deol (Facebook)

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 (Facebook)

If you look carefully he has some black dust on his forehead. It’s only because he will be washing that off is the cream called “Fair and lovely”.

Abhay Deol (Facebook)

Um...this one’s kinda hard to defend as it does say on the side of the packaging-”Indian women agree, skin looks visibly fairer: 88%”.But L’Oreal is an international brand, do they show the same racism around the world that they are clearly showing here in India?

Abhay Deol (Facebook)

And the King Khan himself asking you-(Translated)- “Being a man why are you are still using a women’s FAIRNESS cream!?” He’s clearly trying to make you a man, becoming whiter in the process is just a side effect.

Abhay Deol (Facebook)

Silly Nanadita (Nandita Das) trying to teach us that Black is also beautiful. Doesn’t she know that we already know that? Why else would we be so accepting of people from the south*?What’s that? She’s from Orissa? Can we include that in the southern belt of states?Cause I really want to believe in my bullshit. *in refrence to a comment made by a politician on TV

Abhay Deol (Facebook)

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. Unfortunately if you look at matrimonial ads you will see how entrenched in our psyche this belief is. We even use the word ‘dusk’ to describe the colour of someones skin!While an individual may not be able to change this attitude in his/her community, he/she can at least start with the family.

Abhay Deol (Facebook)

For a change, that’s one helluva useful and relevant rant coming from Bollywood.

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