“Brown Face” in Bollywood
India may be the land of diversity, but when it comes to skin color it only prefers one shade, which is fair.
BY: Srishti Sinha
Be it proposing to your crush in style, or moving to upbeat songs on the dance floor, the influence of Bollywood can be observed in almost every aspect of Indian life.
The subcontinent’s film industry reaches hundreds of millions of Indians who turn to its productions for entertainment. With this level of reach, Bollywood can promote different kinds of ideas and even renegotiate new societal norms. From fashion trends to the latest lingo, Bollywood influence can be found throughout Indian culture. Lingering in the background of this glamorous and influential industry, however, are some negative aspects worth discussing.
Casteism and Colorism
India may be the land of diversity, but when it comes to skin color it only prefers one shade, which is fair. This standard of beauty and status comes from India’s caste system. Only a person in denial would believe that casteism is abolished in India.
According to the caste system, fair skin is often associated with a higher caste, hence a superior status. Lower castes are associated with dark, tanned skin, hence an inferior status. Several studies link caste and skin color and, indeed, skin color, caste, and gender are overlapping subjects that require thorough study and understanding. Unfortunately, Bollywood does not assume any social responsibility in the perpetuation of casteism, gender equality, and the issue of colorism.
Colorism can be defined as discrimination based on skin color, according to which, dark skin is considered to be less desirable and even inferior to fair skin. Bollywood perpetuates colorism through various pop songs and storylines. One recent example is the song Beyonce Sharma Jaayegi. (Translation: After looking at you fair woman, Beyonce would feel shy.) After receiving much backlash, the lyrics of this song were changed, but this isn’t the first or the last song to elevate a “fair woman” to the highest status.
Another practice by which Bollywood productions perpetuate colorism is “brown face.” This refers to the practice of applying brown makeup to fair-skinned people so they appear to have brown skin. Actors made up with “brown face” portray characters that belong to lower classes and castes, with a rural background.
In India, brown skin is predominantly associated with lower status and so perpetuates harmful and discriminatory stereotypes. In turn, this discrimination leads to a great deal of insecurities among people with darker skin tones, ranging from being self-conscious about one’s appearance to more serious problems, like depression and anxiety. Even if a woman is comfortable with her skin tone (and doesn’t invest resources into the fairness beauty products industry), society isn’t. Women with darker complexions in India often face discrimination in the process of arranging marriages. An ideal bride, according to many Indians, is someone who is fair (and slim).
Pseudo-Representation of Dark Skin in Bollywood Films
Dark skin in India is accompanied by a number of insecurities and challenges. Thus, when a fair-skinned person plays a role requiring a brown face it is insulting and disrespectful to all the struggles many people, especially girls, go through because of their skin tone.
The solution is quite simple, then: Bollywood productions should be hiring actors with darker skin to play characters with darker skin. A fair-skinned actor playing a dark-skinned character that has to portray someone who has faced prejudice and discrimination because of her skin color is a bit far-fetched. Also, there are plenty of Indian actresses with darker complexions who are seeking work in films. In fact, they’re waiting to get that career break.
Several recent examples of Bollywood films cast fair-skinned actors to “dark-skinned” roles. The following were among the blockbuster hit movies in India’s box office in recent years:
Bala (2019) tried to address a number of contemporary social issues, including problems related to girls having dark skin. It was unconvincing with a fair-skinned actress, Bhumi Pednekar, hired for the character with this storyline. Aren’t the filmmakers contradicting their own message?
In Udta Punjab (2016), a movie about rising drug abuse in Punjab, a fair-skinned actress (Alia Bhatt) with brown face played one of the lead characters who belonged to a lower caste.
Based on the real life story of a hardworking teacher, a fair-skinned actor (Hrithik Roshan), portrayed a brown face character, as did the woman lead actor in Super30 (2019) .
A commonality shared by the characters in the films mentioned above is that they all came from lower socio-economic backgrounds and lower castes. Just beneath the surface of these huge Bollywood hits starring mega celebrities, then, is the discriminatory caste system with colorism being the clearest indicator that this is so.
If wanting to look at the glass half full, it is worth mentioning that only recently did dark skin start to be represented in Bollywood. It is also encouraging that all of these movies were well-received by audiences, evidenced by their box office earnings. Yet, as long as these characters continue to be played by fair-skinned actors, any messages of representation and inclusivity are canceled out. Unfortunately, audiences accepting this pseudo-representation play a part in perpetuating misrepresentation. They fail to see their power, as Bollywood consumers, to act as a force for change.
Why Does Representation Matter?
Bollywood is one of the main cultural influencers throughout South Asia and in South Asian Diaspora as well. If the right message is portrayed, there would be manifold benefits for India and its neighbors. Dark skin being represented in mainstream movies may help women and men be more secure about their appearance and help them accept themselves as they are. The population of dark-skinned people is significant and respectfully portraying them would be showing the real India.
Representation in mainstream movies is important because films influence the way people view themselves. While having dark-skinned actors play dark-skinned characters wouldn’t solve the problem of a discriminating, colorist, caste system, representation in movies would help us get a step closer to a more inclusive world.
Srishti Sinha is in her third year of studies in Sociology at Delhi University. Originally from Bihar, she grew up in New Delhi. Srishti aspires to become a human rights lawyer in the future, and is passionate about equal rights for all. Follow Srishti on Instagram: @srishtis504.
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