Richa Chadha shared this picture. (Image courtesy: therichachadha)
Highlights
- Took me many years of unlearning to gain confidence: Richa
- We must define our own idea of beauty, says Richa Chadha
- Nandita Das and Abhay Deol also welcomed the brand's decision
Actress Richa Chadha on Friday welcomed Hindustan Unilever's decision to rename their product and drop "Fair" from "Fair & Lovely" and added that it will hopefully change mindsets too. "I welcome this decision by the brand... and it's not easy... I hope slowly and steadily mindsets change," she wrote on Instagram. Richa Chadha accompanied the post with a picture of herself wearing a t-shirt which read "Not Fair But Lovely," which she got printed in 2015. She said, "We have been told since we were children, that fairness is the only definition of beauty. It is also another unfortunate by-product of colonialism and casteism! But it is 2020 and a lot of BS is getting dismantled! It took me many years of unlearning to gain confidence and start loving my complexion."
Supporting the brand for renaming their product, Richa also said, "Yesterday, the brand and I were finally in agreement! Yesterday, they dropped the word "Fair" from their product name... Before you attack the brand for only paying 'lip service', please remember, it takes many generations for ideas to change. There is demand and hence there is supply... We must continuously and without any influence of the West, define our own idea of beauty. Beauty must be inclusive! Bravo."
Read Richa Chadha's post here:
"NOT FAIR BUT LOVELY", I had gotten this printed on a T shirt back in 2015. Yesterday, the brand @fairandlovely_id and I were finally in agreement! Yesterday, they dropped the word FAIR from their product name... Before you attack the brand for only paying 'lip service', please remember, it takes many generations for ideas to change. There is demand and hence there is supply...We have been told since we were children, that fairness is the only definition of beauty! It is also another unfortunate byproduct of colonialism and casteism! But it's 2020, and a lot of BS is getting dismantled ! It took me many years of unlearning to gain confidence and start LOVING my complexion! Der aye durust aye, I say. I welcome this decision by the brand... and it's not easy... brands have a thousand meetings before they change even the FONT in their logo... I hope slowly and steadily mindsets change... we must continuously and without any influence of the West, define our own idea of beauty. Beauty must be inclusive! Bravo @fairandlovely_id #NotFairButLovely #RacismIsAVirus #RichaChadha #richareccomends #Truth #lockdown #selfhate #postcolonial #actorslife #fairandlovely
A post shared by Richa Chadha (@therichachadha) on
Actors Nandita Das and Abhay Deol, who have long criticised celeb endorsements of fairness creams, also welcomed the brand's decision to rename the product. Actress Bipasha Basu talked about her personal experience of skin colour bias over the years, in the wake of Hindustan Unilever renaming of "Fair & Lovely" products.