My Skin Colour Didn’t Define Me: Bipasha Recounts Her Journey

Bipasha welcomed the move by HUL, to drop the word ‘fair’ from its range of products.

Bipasha Basu shared about her journey into films. 

(Photo: Instagram)

On Thursday, Hindustan Unilever announced it will drop the word ‘fair’ from its Fair & Lovely range of products in order to make its portfolio ‘more inclusive’. Appreciating the move, actor Bipasha Basu called it a ‘mammoth step from the brand’ while also recalling her journey of being called a ‘dusky beauty.’

Bipasha took to Instagram and shared her journey into films. She mentioned that ‘dusky’ was the adjective used to describe her even when she won the supermodel contest. “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,” she wrote.

She further added that even when she did her first few Bollywood films, the discussion seemed to be around her duskiness. “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.”

“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 but I stuck to my principle always.”

Bipasha Basu

Actor-director Nandita Das, who has always fought against skin colour stigma, also mentioned that the move by HUL, though symbolic, is a step forward.