In ‘Bala’, Bhumi Pednekar Battles Fairness Creams In Brownface

“They never learn, do they?” – more than a few tweets read like this, when Bhumi Pednekar unveiled a poster of her upcoming film, Bala. The poster introducing Pednekar’s dark-skinned character, aspires to make a statement by rejecting fairness creams.

Main hun Mr. Bald ki dost, Ms. Bold!
Miliye mujhse, jald hi._#Bala trailer out at 12 noon!#DineshVijan @amarkaushik @ayushmannk @yamigautam @saurabhshukla_s @jaavedjaaferi #SeemaPahwa @nowitsabhi @SachinJigarLive @sonymusicindia @JioCinema @jiostudios pic.twitter.com/TBSCA3caAt

— bhumi pednekar (@bhumipednekar) October 10, 2019

But the makers’ unwillingness to cast an actor with dark skin instead choosing to brown-face a light skinned Bhumi Pednekar, reflects their purposeful ignorance of the issue at hand. For them to cast a fairer-skinned actor in a role that requires dark skin, only further perpetuates the society’s fascination with ‘being white’.

Twitter obviously had a field day with this poster, as the reactions to Pednekar’s character were largely negative.

WE WANT TO SEE DARK SKINNED ACTRESSES FOR DARK SKINNED ROLES !!!

— aayu • fan account (@zaynhq_) October 10, 2019

Do y’all ever learnhttps://t.co/tdKAGU8I8L

— Archisha (@Archisha17) October 10, 2019

Is it that hard to get a dark-skinned actress for a dark-skinned role??

— (@angeli_y) October 10, 2019

when will they ever learn? pic.twitter.com/5WEAkmpRWf

— Sнαzє (@shaznaFO) October 10, 2019

No dusky actors left in Bollywood kya? Brown face kar kar ke bhaga diya sabko? LOL. For a film talking about looks, this is so bloody shallow.

— Ritambhara Agrawal (@RitambharaA) October 10, 2019

Tbh, I don’t even care about the acting. Maybe this person is a great actor. But like, dude why did y’all put makeup to make a fairly light skinned person into a dark skinned person. Should’ve just sat there and casted a dark skinned person ___

— _ CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP (@_TypicalRobot_) October 11, 2019

At the moment, Pednekar is slowly becoming a repeat offender in matters of problematic casting. She was recently criticised, along with co-actor Taapsee Pannu, for taking on the roles of two characters in their sixties in Saand Ki Aankh. Especially in an industry, where female actors beyond an age already have a lean range of roles. Veteran actor Neena Gupta even commented on the issue saying that – ‘at least leave the roles of our age… to us”. The rebuttals from both actors were that why weren’t same questions posed to the men, which is a legitimate question. But the truth is, that many members of the media did raise their doubts about a 44-year-old Aamir Khan playing a college student.