Aditi Rao Hydari Refused To Endorse A Fairness Brand In The Beginning Of Career, Here’s Why

In India, actors and actresses also play a significant role as an influencer in the society. The country has been long obsessed with the idea, the fairer the better, and the Bollywood industry is no exception in this regard. There have been several incidences, wherein the actors revealed that the casting directors and filmmakers rejected them due to their dark skin. On the other hand, there are stars, who endorsed fairness brands in the past, not very long before the ‘Black Lives Matter’ protests broke out across the USA,thereby influencing the world at large. While many Indian celebrities tweeted their support for ‘Black Lives Matter,’ despite endorsing fairness creams in the past, there are others like Aditi Rao Hydari, who spoke louder through her action against colour discrimination.

The 33-year-old star rejected to endorse a fairness cream ad campaign, because she does not believe in the idea of discriminated beauty. This incident happened when she was new in the industry and was looking for good opportunities. Despite the fact that the ad campaign would have got her bigger breaks, she decided to stand by her belief, that is to “look at an individual beyond caste, region, colour, religion or even appearance.”

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During an interview with a news agency, Aditi Rao Hydari talked about this incident and said, “At the beginning of my career, I got an offer to be a part of a fairness cream ad campaign that could have given me a great deal of visibility, followed by entries into the movie business. Coming from a non-film family that was an opportunity for me to grab, but I didn’t.”

She, who thinks that her “generation of celebrities is always standing for a world that is more inclusive” further revealed from where she got this liberated mentality. “I come from a family where I was taught to look at an individual beyond caste, region, colour, religion, or even appearance. I cannot stand by and endorse an idea of beauty that is discriminatory. So, as the word ‘fair’ is removed from such a product, it takes us a step closer to inclusivity in the beauty and cosmetic world,” added the Bhoomi star.

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Due to the impact of the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement, an Indian cosmetic brand recently dropped the word ‘fair’ from their skin-whitening product, which has been endorsed by several actresses including, Yami Gautam, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and Genelia D'Souza. In fact, Yami talked about endorsing this brand while she was awaiting the release of her film, Bala that addressed the colour discrimination mentality in India. “The fact that I am part of a film like Bala, where the issue is highlighted, shows that I know what I'm doing,” said the 31-year-old star during an interview with a leading media house.

Yami was trolled for being the face of this brand. She revealed that she addressed the issue and talked about it with the brand and suggested to them, “Maybe the name (of the skin-whitening product) has been retained, so it is difficult to see beyond that.”

However, she also added, "Just me leaving the brand isn't the solution. What I'm saying, is it reaching that sector where it is so important, the deep-rooted, grassroot level where they are believing that being fair gets you prospects or a groom?”

While media and influencers of the society should work together to remove such feudal mentality, it is great to witness that at least some stars kept their distance from setting wrong examples. Aditi Rao Hydari is not the first celebrity, who refused to endorse fairness creams. As per media reports, South Indian actress Sai Pallavi, Kangana Ranaut, Swara Bhaskar, Kalki Koechlin, Ranbir Kapoor, and Randeep Hooda have also turned down advertisement offers from fairness brands.

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