I have been trolled for my dark skin tone: Bhoomi Shetty

The Kinnari actress talks about the reality show, her career and more. Excerpts...

Kinnari

actress Bhoomi Shetty, who was one of the most talked-about contestants on Bigg Boss Kannada Season 7, indulges in a fun Q&A round with Bangalore Times. The actress talks about the reality show, her career and more. Excerpts...

You have been extremely active on social media giving us a glimpse into your daily life. Has this increased during the lockdown?

After coming out of the Bigg Boss house, my life and other plans just suddenly paused because of the lockdown. And after a while it really made me feel disconnected from my fans and I realised that I should connect with them, and hence I am trying to be active on social media.

You also keep sharing Bigg Boss memories. You seem to be extremely attached to the show...

It is that chapter of my life that I want to open again and again.I think of my Big Boss days every day. And, I keep thinking about the time I spent with all the 17 contestants for 112 days. In fact, I learnt a lot from everyone.

Any important memory from the house?

My uncle who wasn't talking to me for 4.5 years came to meet me when I was there and he also got me my favourite fish curry. I was so emotional and I have to really thank Bigg Boss for that.

You have been vocal about colourism in India. You had previously mentioned how brown skin is also being a sexy colour and how you would want to speak more about this issue...

I would want to start off with advertisements that portray a dark-toned woman as weak and how her life changes after she applies fairness cream. People get affected by it. Since my childhood, I have been getting comments about my skin tone and I used to be taunted and be the butt of all jokes. In fact, when I was in the Bigg Boss house, I was trolled for my skin tone and how to do so much make-up to hide my skin tone. As an artiste, I will wear makeup as it is my profession and people need to respect that. Our society has given us labels and tags based on our skin tone and there's a standard that has bee set when it comes to who is 'beautiful'. That needs to change. Sadly, in India colourism is real.
Has your skin tone affected your chances of getting better roles in the industry?
Since childhood, I wanted to be an actress but I didn't share it with anyone because of the insecurities I had about my skin tone. I gave auditions for almost two years and I had this thought that maybe I am being judged by my skin tone. But, after Kinnari, my perception changed and I am extremely confident professionally. I just ignore trolls now as I don't need that kind of negativity. My message to other women out there is to not get affected by such comments and be confident.

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