Director Akshay Singh takes on the regressive obessesion that Indians have with fair skin in his debut film Pinky Beauty Parlour. Part of MAMI’s The India Story’s line-up, Singh’s film is set in Varanasi.
The director’s note on the film states, “During my research while writing the script, I realised that small towns in India are flooded with beauty parlours and people there are very conscious about their looks and particularly of the complexion of their skin. That is the reason why the story of my film is set in the backdrop of a beauty parlour. Varanasi was chosen as the location because I know the place and the people very well.”
The film begins with the discovery of a dead body in the back room of Pinky Beauty Parlour. Through myriad flashbacks and a multitude of characters, we learn about the beauty parlour and the stories that ultimately lead up to the fatal incident.
Obsessed with fair skin
At the centre of the story are the sisters Pinky and Bulbul who own the beauty salon. Their annoying clients are obsessed with becoming fair. And all the employees — one with a violent boyfriend, a sly helper and a shy errand boy — could have had a reason to hold a grudge against Bulbul. The film tells us a story about the value of lighter skin in Indian society. For instance, the colour of skin shapes for example the lives of the two sisters: Bulbul, the darker one and her younger sister Pinky, who is considered the prettier one.
Singh, who also plays the male lead, says the impetus to make the film was a friend who was depressed as she could not become fairer. He traces the obsession in India back to colonial times, “The rulers were light skinned, so we strive to become fairer as well,’’ he says.
Several dark-skinned women have stories to recount about being discriminated against owing to their colour. Actor Khusboo Gupta, who plays Bulbul, is no exception. She says at film auditions “they say, ‘you are a good actor, but for the heroine we want a fair skinned girl’. If they are looking for a bitchy role or a vamp, they take the dark girl.’’ Behind these regressive notions is a huge industry that thrives on selling products that promises a change in skin tone. “The fairness cream market is [worth] more than Rs. 3,000 crore,’’ says Singh.
While writing the script, Singh extensively researched whiteness and the beauty industry. “We grew up with so many myths, and one of them is skin bias,’’ says Singh, who has plans to start a campaign called ‘Let’s Unlearn’ in response to skin colour discrimination.
Singh is hoping the first step in tackling skin colour prejudices will be through his film, which releases early next month. He’s convinced, that one can begin a discussion with the help of an entertaining film, “Every point comes across easier with humour, than with something very preachy.’’ His film’s message is ‘Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, and beauty standards can sometimes kill’.
The writer is a radio journalist based in Vienna
