Kalki Koechlin not a fan of ‘fairness creams’ or stars who promote them

Kalki Koechlin has admonished India’s promotion of skin lightening creams, which contain active ingredients to reduce melanin levels in the body.

Renowned for her unconventional acting, her choice of diverse character depictions on screen, her outspoken public presence and for being a vocal campaigner on issues as wide-ranging as freedom of speech and disability��visibility, Koechlin is stranger to no-one.

Speaking to Reddit�� for an event honouring International Women’s Day, Koechlin openly criticised the cultural, predominantly south-Asian, beauty standards which encourage Bollywood stars to promote the fairness creams.

Koecklin, who is of French descent, wrote, “I don’t think there is anything wrong with being fair, but when an entire nation basis its idea of beauty on being fair it’s sad, because there are such beautiful people who are dusky, or of a different skin tone.”

A report by Morgan Stanley��in 2014 stated that nearly half of all Indian consumers sought creams which had the ability of lightening their skin tone; with major companies, including Garnier and��L’Or̩al,��promoting fairness creams through endorsement deals which featured megastars such as, Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan , and Sonam Kapoor.

“I endorse an anti-ageing cream because I do feel I have to take better care of my skin with age,” Koechlin continued. “But I am clear that fairness is not something I promote with them. In fact, I would love to endorse a cream which makes me darker, I am always trying to get a tan!”

Koechlin went on to describe her own experiences and the hostility she had faced when it came to her ethnicity.��”‘Go back to your country’, ‘loose moral girl’ etc,” were a couple of the many comments she had received. “If only they knew i was born in Perriamudaliachavadi!”

By Nish Misra