‘Looked like nothing, dark and skinny’: When Smita Jaykar judged her ‘Kismat’ co-star Priyanka Chopra on looks

While debates around racism in Bollywood have persisted over the years, the industry has also been graced by several dusky beauties like Kajol, Priyanka Chopra, Smita Patil, Sameera Reddy, and Bipasha Basu. Each of them has challenged stereotypes and redefined conventional standards of beauty, proving that talent and charisma go far beyond skin tone.A similar instance was once shared by veteran actress Smita Jaykar when she recalled her first meeting with Priyanka Chopra. Known for her work in Hindi and Marathi cinema, Jaykar had worked with Priyanka in the 2004 film ‘Kismat’.In an old interview with Filmymantra Media, she opened up about her initial impression of the actress, and how completely it changed over time. She recalled, “I did one of Priyanka’s initial films with her, ‘Kismat’. She was very thin, skinny, and dark. She was introduced to me and Mohan Joshi as our daughter in the film. When I saw her, I said, ‘Oh my God.’ At that point, she looked like nothing. I wondered how these people become heroines.”However, Priyanka soon proved her wrong in the most remarkable way. “Cut to, Priyanka Chopra was wow. I thought, what has this girl gone and done? She became a complete diva. So you can’t judge somebody and say, ‘Yaar, yeh kisko leke aaye ho.’ You never know when someone’s destiny will change. What an actress, fab!” Jaykar added.On the other hand, Priyanka Chopra herself has often spoken about facing colourism and body shaming in her early years. In an interview with BBC, she shared, “I was called ‘black cat’, ‘dusky’. I mean, what does ‘dusky’ even mean in a country where we are literally all brown? I thought I was not pretty enough. I believed I would have to work a lot harder, even though I felt I was perhaps more talented than some of my lighter-skinned peers. But I accepted it because it was so normalised.”