INTRODUCTION (Yukti)

A colonial wedge that separated Indians into lighter and darker shades of brown, that got ingrained
over the flow of time has now left us with an obscure and divisive concept of : Colourism. During the
course of this research we identified the internal biases within our communities and cultures. We
then, closely critiqued certain inconspicuous moments of discrimination that contribute to a greater
global issue, generating a belief that is passed down through several lineages taking up the form of a
discriminatory comment or some other outlet for this microaggressions, with the same underlying
message that, whiteness is "good" and brings along privileges that darker people do not have, for
blackness is "bad".

The media has increasingly dictated the beauty standards, favouring lighter-skinned models (both
male and female) for practically all products advertisements over darker-skinned models. Another
remarkable divide created by, the Indian film industry is displayed with their active reinforcement
and perpetuation of colourist attitudes; that commodifies colourism and dis-en-franchises women,
lower castes, and indigenous people. There is a disconnect between the progressive values publicly
stated and those practised by the majority in Bollywood.

OBJECTIVE (Yukti)

Our aim to be established via this research is to unveil the intricately woven Indian obsession with fair
skin that has highly damaging effects on our society and its inhabitants. We shall also look for possible
measures to restore what we have lost through such a practice.

BODY

 BRITISH RULE (Divya)

During the British Raj the light skinned folks were prioritized whenever a government job was to be
offered, while the Dark-skinned employees was made to run odd errands.

This scale of skin shade ran parallel to the scale of allyship with the British government, Who viewed
English men as representatives of the highest culture and embodying the optimum Physical type.

As a result, for them the whiteness of the skin was identified as civilised, virtuous and beautiful,
while the dark natives were labelled barbaric, savage, primitive, passive and incapable of self-
determination.

 MOVIES (Divya)
Traces of colourism can also be observed in Indian movies, promoting varying ideas:
1. First being, a Distinction drawn between the protagonists and villain of the story: While
the colour white is attributed to heroism, the dark colour is used to describe the shady
nature of the villain. Movies such as-

a) Mother India (1957): Which was nominated for Oscars, featured a light-
skinned son who does all the right things whereas the dark-skinned son
does everything that disappoints his mother. Similar,
b) Meri Surat Teri Aankhe (1963): features a father who puts his child for
adoption because he finds his dark-skinned son ugly. While in the movie,
 c) Fashion(2008): Priyanka Chopra plays the role of an aspiring model who
experiences derailment and realises it only when one fine day, she wakes
up next to a black guy, who is used to personify malice.
2. Secondly, adopting brown faces by temporarily darkening the skin of the performers,
especially at times when they are portraying characters from disadvantaged
backgrounds. For example:
a) Ranveer Singh in gully boy
b) Varun Dhawan in coolie
c) Hritik Roshan in Super 30, Mohenjo-Daro, Agneepath
d) Bhumi Padnekar in Bala
e) Alia Bhatt in Udta Punjab

 SONGS (Maria)

Apart from degradation of the darker shades, supremacy of the lighter shades was established using
lyrics of some Bollywood songs. One of the most controversial songs ; 'Ho tujhe dekh ke goriya,
Beyonce sharma jayegi', had to alter its lyrics under community pressure created on social media
platforms. While many have gone such as, ‘gore gore gaalo pe kalla kalla chasma’ and ‘chittiya kaliya'
have gone unnoticed.

• ADS (Maria)

Various brands have exhibited colourist ideologies in varying ways through their products
advertisements. For example while discussing-

1. Fair&Lovely: They cast light coloured or “less ethnic” talents, to bait the general dark
audiences by inducing ideas of proposing enhanced job and other romantic
opportunities with fainter skin tones. Similarly,
2. Fair&handsome: promotes their skin whitening cream with a scale to measure your
skin tone. The darker colour is viewed in such an inappropriate context that people
simply fail to entertain it even in the absence of public thrust, as in case of skin
lightening products even for intimate body parts such as Clean&Dry.
WEB SERIES (Harshita)

The contemporary fervour for web series has taken the OTT platforms and the colourist attitude to a
whole new level, Enchanting a greater number of viewers than ever possible. Web series such as,

1. A Suitable boy: depicts a mother’s journey who is searching for a suitable boy for her
daughter, and is reminded in multiple ways how being fair is the ideal beauty standard. The
series primarily deals with life choices of upper-class people during the post-independence
times, where the representation of a sexually-liberated woman, that is problematic
according to the plot is catered by dark-skinned women.

 DOCUMENTARIES (Harshita)
Documentaries with a plot driven by a colourist theme describing:
1. The Impact of colourism within racism: explaining the darker a person’s skin, the more
disenfranchisement they face, from employment discrimination to higher odds of being
 incarcerated, being paid lower wages for equal work—and being less likely to be represented
positively in film, television, and advertising. While other themes Discussed
2. Dark skin people as equivalents to drug peddlers:
In 2017 an African boy was violently attacked and beaten up in Nodia, for being alleged of
trading and selling drugs, none of which could be proven.
3. The best short film of this year-The Brown number, is A short animation documentary about
intra-racial discrimination with the Indian society, outlining the stereotypes attached with skin
colour.

CONCLUSION (Aditi)

Moving towards the conclusion of our paper, we shall highlight the major aspects of our topic. We
realised how,

The divide created by the Britishers is still undergoing profound deepening in our society, owing to a
trail of beliefs that are Strengthened over every passing generation. Such a divide has now landed us in a
situation where the texture of skin finds its place on the list of criterion for job selection, marriage
proposals, promotion opportunities or even mere appreciation. We also identified how, Colourism is
simultaneously exploited by companies determined to turn insecurities about skin colour into financial
gain through marketing lucrative skin lightening products. This colourist view is reiterated in Bollywood
movies, songs, ads and documentaries that curates Intraracial content. Transcending across various
stereotypes and myths established around this idea, we attempted to understand the areas in which it
has influenced peoples behaviour towards one another even at a customary grade. After discussing the
issues proposed by colourism, we looked at its flip side that initiated anti colour campaign that runs
parallel to this taboo in order to combat the implications of colourism and resolve all its propositions, to
empower people of varying skin colour so that they feel Confident in their own ways.

To summarise the intention of this paper, I’ll Quote the French philosopher C-mon duh buv-va

“Society cares about a person only if he is beneficial”

Thank you for being patient everyone, we would now open the floor for questions and points of
discussion that the audience wants to raise.