"What Will I Do With That Money?" When Ramayana Star Sai Pallavi Rejected Rs 2 Crore Fairness Cream Ad

Sai Pallavi is playing Sita in Nitesh Tiwari's Ramayana: Part 1, which is all set to hit theatres on November 8, 2026. The actor is often praised for her natural beauty and standing for the right cause, including rejecting a Rs 2 crore deal of a fairness cream advertisement in 2019.

The actor did not have just one reason for declining the offer. One of the reasons was that she barely uses cosmetics. In fact, she rarely wears makeup because she feels it does not suit her, and she unapologetically flaunts her acne on screen.

She said, "I don't endorse beauty products. You need to be confident about who you are and your skin colour." But she had another reason for rejecting the offer, and it was her sister.

Why Sai Pallavi Rejected Rs Crore Fairness Cream Ad

In a December 2020 interview with Bollywood Hungama, Sai Pallavi said that she knew friends and family members who were made to feel inferior because of their skin colour and the beauty standards created by society.

She added that she also did it because of her sister. "I have seen her go through a lotI am a tone fairer, and sometimes my sister wouldn't eat vegetables and fruits," she said, adding that her mother would compel her to eat those ingredients by saying that it would help her grow fair.

It hurt Sai Pallavi to see that her sister had to eat what she didn't like so that she could grow fair. "I felt I needed to stand up for that, at least for my sister's sake, otherwise what will I do with all that money," the actor noted.

People Would Look At Sai Pallavi's Acne

During the same interview, Sai Pallavi mentioned, "I think, I've always been a very simple person. Money hasn't been something that I am drawn to, but again, it's another personal choice," while sharing why she declined to be a part of an ad that promoted fair skin tone as the ultimate standard of beauty.

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She added that she does not judge people who choose to be part of such campaigns or associate themselves with such brands. The actor made her debut with Premam, a 2015 Malayalam romantic drama, but before becoming an actor, she struggled with how people perceived her because of her acne.

The actor shared that before the film, she had applied hundreds of creams. "I have put myself through so much. I wouldn't want to leave home. I would just stay at home thinking that people just keep looking at my pimples and talk. They don't look into my eyes," she added.

However, after Premam, she realised that people accepted her despite her perceived imperfections. "They liked me more, and I saw how much it influenced children and young teens who felt, 'Oh! She is being liked despite her acne.' So that made me feel a lot more powerful," Sai Pallavi shared.

This experience made the Ramayana star more confident about herself. "In return, it was my duty to influence them and make them feel that they are not alone in this," she further noted. Sai Pallavi did not want to do a disservice to her fans, who accepted her as she was, by promoting a fairness cream that could make people question their skin colour, feel underconfident, and develop body image issues.

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