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Mumbai/Lucknow. In Bollywood, the dark truths hidden behind the glitz and glamor often come to light through the artists. In this episode, famous Hindi and South cinema actress Sameera Reddy has made a very shocking and frank revelation about the ‘Colour Bias’ deeply entrenched in the film industry. Recalling her film journey in a Hondacast and recent interview, Sameera told how due to her dusky skin tone, she had to face immense mental stress and discrimination at the time of her debut. According to the actress, during her first film, the makers and directors did not like her natural dark complexion, due to which she was forcibly shown two to three shades lighter on screen.

"The industry wanted only a special kind of ‘white girl’"

Sameera Reddy made her grand debut in Bollywood with Sohail Khan in the year 2002 with the film ‘Maine Dil Tujhko Diya’. Recalling that period, Sameera said, "When I entered, there was a strange hesitation about dark-skinned girls in the industry. I still remember that in my first film my skin tone was completely changed using lighting and heavy base makeup. I was shown 2-3 shades lighter on the screens because at that time there was a belief that the heroine’s fair appearance was the guarantee of success." He further told that this apartheid had hurt his self-confidence a lot in the initial days and he started feeling that there was something wrong with his looks. Sameera, who faced discrimination both in South and Bollywood, said that this problem was not limited to Bollywood only, but in the South film industry (Tamil and Telugu cinema) too, there was a lot of pressure on the actress regarding her complexion and body shape. He said, "I was often told to get treatments done to clear my skin or to always shoot in bright lights. From clothes to lipstick shades, they were changed just so that my dark complexion would not be visible." Due to this constant rejection and artificial standards, she struggled with ‘body dysmorphia’ and insecurity for a long time. Now Sameera has become an example of body positivity on social media. Away from all these restrictions and false standards of the film world, today Sameera Reddy has emerged as the biggest advocate of ‘body positivity’ and natural beauty on social media. She often shares pictures and videos of her gray hair, stretch marks and actual skin tone without any filters and without makeup. Sameera says that at this stage of her age, she has learned to accept herself completely with her shortcomings. Her outspokenness is being greatly appreciated by today’s young generation and women, due to which she is proving to be an inspiration in breaking the conservative beauty standards.