An Open Letter to Tannishtha Chatterjee

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Dear Tannishtha Chatterjee,

There is no doubt that our obsession for fair skin is just not limited to fairness brands or their TVCs (Television Commercials) alone. But it’s a social prejudice that had mingled with our daily lifestyle.

Be it a matrimonial advertisement on website or newspaper, the first thing you come across is white or fair. Especially in those highlighted “Brides Wanted” sections, a number of people want their sons, brothers or whoever to marry ‘a fair bride’.

And before you think about it further, fairness brands’ advertisements try to justify why being dark-skinned means loss of opportunity or lack of success. Even top celebrities endorse such brands and make lots of money without sparing a single thought that what messages these TVCs give to society as a whole? 

An Open Letter to Tannishtha Chatterjee

In America, a lot of people died fighting racism. But you can’t even think about your dark-skin-color here in India. More than 80% of our population share the same skin tone. We fully support your view that a comedy show can’t justify social prejudice under the veil of ‘creativity’.

Like a billion rational Indians, I fully support democracy and freedom of speech, but it also makes us responsible to correct the wrong. Sadly enough, we accept our country as it is. I rarely see celebrities standing up for what they believe in. You made a big difference this time. More power to you.

Must Read: An Open Letter to Singer Sona Mohapatra

As a comedian, if you make people laugh by taking a jibe at someone’s skin tone then you must also spread the positive message that ‘talent and skills have no boundary and nothing to do with your gender, caste, color or religion’. 

Comedy Night Bachao Taza artist Krushna Abhishek said, “She is doing this for publicity. We gave more importance to Radhika Apte who is a bigger star. That must have been a problem for Tannishtha.”

But we believe in you Tannishtha, you stood up for a rational cause.

An Open Letter to Tannishtha Chatterjee
Image Source: santabanta

Why Is Tannishtha Chatterjee Upset?

Parched actress was particularly offended when a comedian took a jibe at her saying, “aap ko jamun bahut pasand hoga zaroor, kitna jamun khaya aapne bachpan se? (You must be a big fan of blackberry, how many blackberries you ate in your childhood?) This particular sentence mocked the actress’s skin tone which was completely uncalled for.

In fact, it could have even irked a common man or woman too. What does a comedy show have to do with one’s skin color? No. You can’t make fun out of such sensitive issues like ‘racism’.

The actress then took to facebook demonstrating her anguish on the whole fiasco.

Colors TV channel immediately came to a damage control mode with an apology and tweet.

After color channel’s apology the actress responded back with another tweet to confirm it wasn’t personal but an attempt to fight against prejudice;

We Salute You Tannishtha Chatterjee

The talented actress felt that prejudice against skin colour is deeply-rooted in caste bias, which is still prevailing in our country. We completely agree with you. Unless we come out of our caste bias at the earliest we can’t remove other social biases from our country.

Herewith wishing you all the best for your film ‘Parched’. Meanwhile, I completely forgot to tell you that your performance in the film UNINDIAN, also featuring Aussie cricketer Brett Lee, was absolutely fantastic. 

Keep Up the good work. I hope your film ‘Parched’ will showcase the lives of Indian women from rural hinterland in its correct perspective. Way to go!

Thank You
A Rational Citizen