Known for taking up unconventional roles, Ayushmann Khurrana is back with yet another film called ‘Bala’, and its trailer has received a lot of attention in just a day. The film deals with the subject of premature balding, where the Andhadhun actor is playing the role of a man who is unable to find love because he’s losing hair. While everyone’s appreciating the unique storyline of the movie, Bhumi Pednekar’s look has drawn flak from many.
Her brownface in the movie has left the audience furious, while reigniting the debate around the use of makeup to darken the skin tone of light-skinned actors instead of casting someone with the right skin tone for the role. Take a look at the trailer.
Bhumi took to Instagram to share her look from the movie. She captioned her post, “Main hoon Mr. Bald ki dost, Ms. Bold! Miliye mujhse, jald hi.😉”
Here’s the poster which has received massive criticism.
The main concern has been around casting Bhumi for the role. People commented on the post, saying that the makers of the movie should have cast a dark-skinned actor instead of using tons of makeup to make Bhumi’s face look darker. One of the followers commented, “I’m so sorry but this dark makeup is so wrong. Cast dark skinned actor if it’s important for story, but don’t do like this.”
“Wish industry had dark-skinned actresses to properly portray the struggle. But it’ll be way too long before that happens. Until then this is what we get. Painted faces,” a follower commented on Instagram. Another infuriated follower wrote, “One day bollywood will realise dark skinned people exist and they don’t have to put 2 kilos of dark foundation on a fair skinned actress. One day”.
This is not the first time that the brownface debate has happened in Bollywood. Whether it’s Alia Bhatt’s look in Udta Punjab, Hrithik Roshan’s in Super 30, or Ranveer Singh’s in Gully Boy – Bollywood has been using brownface repeatedly and unabashedly. Perhaps it’s time our filmmakers do some introspection?
Featured Image: Instagram
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