The world’s fixation with fair skin is no secret. Racism is rampant and it seems like things are no different in Bollywood.
Many consider Nawazuddin to be one of the finest, if not the finest actor of Hindi cinema today. Therefore when he speaks the world listens.
Last week after casting director Sanjay Chouhan spoke about how co-actors cast with Nawazuddin have to be dark-skinned, the actor raised the question of racism through a tweet that said, “Thank you for making me realise that I cannot be paired along with the fair and handsome because I’m dark and not good looking.”
The actor with a deep sigh said, “I was reacting to what I read about this gentleman’s statement on the kind of actors I need to be cast with. I found the statement very strange. Did film-makers actually consider the colour of my co-stars’ skin before casting them with me? Yeh ladki gori hai yeh nahin chalegi…yeh ladka saawla hai issko banao Nawaz ka dost. Is that how actors are cast in our films? I thought actors were chosen for suitability and merit. Anyway, this gentleman says he was misquoted.”
Nawazuddin says he hates playing the victim card. “But the fact is, I have faced prejudices all my life because of my dark complexion, because of my humble background and because I come from a small village. Prejudice is embedded deep in our minds. All of us are prejudiced.”
At the work front, the actor was recently seen in a special appearance in Anurag Basu’s Jagga Jasoos. He is pairing with actor Tiger Shroff for the upcoming film, Munna Michael. He will also be seen as Sadat Hasan Manto in Nandita Das’ film on the author.
