Bipasha Basu is one such diva in Bollywood who has reigned in unparalleled fame and stardom despite the prevalent bias for heroines having fairer skin. For the unversed, the dusky Bengali beauty has ruled hearts and the celluloid simultaneously despite her little differed standards of beauty, which has in fact made her to be hailed as one of the sexiest actresses of her generation.
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Bipasha Basu has won hearts for her unique acting mettle and killer looks. Sadly, despite being a successful actress, she has often been at the helm of criticism for her slightly dusky skin tone, which is primarily lesser-thought of in the wake of the bias for a white and fairer skin tone. For instance, she was once targeted by a troll who claimed that she had used whitening treatments so as to fit into the category of fair skin toned actresses. However, Bipasha soon took notice of it and slammed it with a befitting response. She mentioned:
“Really??? Thank you for telling me that. I have super sensitive skin and allergies. Have done 2 facials in my entire life because of it. But according to you I have done some lightening therapy???!!!! It’s amazing how an absolute stranger knows what I have done. Please rise above all this."
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Way back in 2020, the world had arisen to a skin-neutral society when popular brand, Unilever decided to drop the name, ‘Fair’ from its popular skincare product, ‘Fair and Lovely’. Indeed, this move towards a complexion-conscious society was applauded by all, and our favourite B-Town diva, Bipasha Basu was one of them. Taking to her social media handle, she recalled how right from her childhood, she had to face a lot of criticism owing to her dark skin tone by her relatives. In her words:
“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???"
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Furthermore, Bipasha also opened up about the initial phase of her career during her modelling days. She revealed how she got to face a complexion-neutral approach overseas in New York and Paris, who perceived her skin tone as exotic and therefore it led her to get a lot more attention. Revealing how back in India, she was suddenly startled to feel all the more acceptable in her own dusky self, she mentioned:
“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."
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In her long Bollywood career to date, Bipasha Basu has always been highlighted for her toned physique and sexy personality, which has made millions of her male fans go weak in their knees. But for the actress herself, this idea of being identified as sexy because of being conventionally dusky has never fitted the bill. Elaborating on the same, she mentioned:
“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. 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."
What do you think about Bipasha Basu’s concern for a complexion-neutral society?
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