The teaser of Anushka Sharma’s upcoming film, in which she plays Indian pacesetter Jhulan Goswami, has not been well received by some. While the content was exciting to many, some could not understand why Sharma was chosen for the role. This accusation was not because of her acting chops, but the resulting attempt at “Brownfacing.”
The American cult film Tropic Thunder (2008) started to become known over the years for anything other than its storyline or performances. Hollywood star Robert Downey Jr, for playing an African American, was accused of ‘blackfacing’. And as time went on, filmmakers around the world have begun to pay attention to these issues and have attempted to cast characters faithful to the roles written for them.
Also in India this has happened many times when an actor’s skin color has been darkened to make him/her ‘look like the character’. The allegations vary from place to place.
Actors Hrithik Roshan (Super 30), Ashton Kutcher (in a US ad), Ranveer Singh (Gully Boy) and even Canadian Prime Minister Justin Turdeau have been accused of ‘Blackfacing’ and ‘Brownfacing’ before.
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These attempts are part of the cultural appropriation of a character. Today, it is considered racist when a person belonging to one race or ethnicity tries to copy or appropriate the culture of another race by simply changing his/her appearance.
After actor Anushka Sharma released the teaser of her upcoming movie Chakda Xpress, viewers couldn’t help but notice the change in appearance. Sharma, who is naturally fair-skinned, appears to have a darker complexion through makeup.
The actor has been criticized for promoting ‘brownface’.
In 2014, when actor Priyanka Chopra was roped in to play the role of boxer Mary Kom, she used prosthetics to make herself look like Manipuri’s Olympic medalist.
More recently, actor Aahana Kumra had also uploaded a photo of her trying to “look like” Goswami. The internet called her attempt “outrageous.”
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