Nawazuddin Siddiqui is one of the most versatile actors in Bollywood, he has been able to ace the psychotic villain as well as the kind side-kick with perfection. More recently, he aced his role in film Mom.
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The actor has previously shared his experience on how difficult it was for him to find his footing in Bollywood, how looks and skin colour were taken into consideration more than talent and skills. Unfortunately, even after years of experience and winning accolades of his work, he is subjected to ‘unfair’ treatment, pun intended.
Turns out that Sanjay Chouhan, the casting director for Siddiqui’s upcoming film Babumoshai Bandookbaaz, made a statement saying, “We can’t cast fair and handsome people with Nawaz. It would look so weird…” which has evidently upset the actor, and rightly so. In a world that is struggling to counter racism and body shaming, it is a low blow to tell such a gifted actor that his looks are insufficient, to say the least.
Yesterday, the actor tweeted a cryptic message sarcastically thanking Chouhan (we assume) for his stupid remark and as expected, it took Twitter by storm and devoted fans stood up for the star.
India has progressively been moving towards the ‘dark is beautiful’ philosophy. With Nandita Das’ campaign by the same name and Abhay Deol’s bold stance as he called out famous Bollywood actors for endorsing fairness cream, it is disturbing to once again realize how deep-rooted this problem may be. It is something we can all relate to as we also encounter this ideology on a day-to-day basis.
