Something strange about Bollywood

I didn't read all of the comments here, so forgive me for sounding redundant.

I hope everybody knows that the camera and lighting can make you appear lighter than you are.  People that look light on screen aren't necessarily light in real life.   I have tons of pictures that make me look "fair", when I'm as brown as your average Indian in reality.  

 

Here's a picture of Meghna Naidu looking light-skinned.

 

Here's another picture of her.  Look at how much tanner she looks.  I can safely say that she's brown-skinned in reality, as I have seen her on stage.

 

 

I don't know what everybody's definition of "dark" is, but there are plenty of colored women that dominate the fashion ramps in India.   For example, there's Sheetal Mallar, Diandre Soares, Reshmi Ghosh, Vidisha Pavate, Carol Gracias, and Nayonika Chatterjee. 

There's also a new beautiful dark-skinned actress in the soap opera "Saat Phere."    There are others that I can think of, but I will name them only if you want me to.   

 

 

Edited by RajputGirl

To the initial poster-

Punjab isn't the only region where light skin (or sharp/fine features) is evident.  I've also noticed that some ABI's (American-born Indians) fall prey to this stereotype.  And yes, it's not that hard to find a Punjabi that looks like your so-called "typical Indian."  Trust me, most of our family friends are Punjabi.   Just look at the PM Manmohan Singh, or actress Parminder Nagra. 

 The only reason why it may seem like Punjabis are the lightest is because they are one of the most populous groups in the South Asian diaspora.  Many Indian groups didn't migrate to the West, so the Indians that you see in America aren't necessarily an accurate reflection of all Indians. 

India is a very diverse country with all kinds of looks.  Why can't people accept that? 

In North India-Kashmiris, Sindhis, Uttaranchalis, Himachalis, some parts of Rajasthan,  and some parts of UP are reputed to have a substantial amount of light-skinned people.   I also heard the North-Eastern part of India has a lot of fair people, but I don't know too many people from there.   Udita Goswami and Shruti Agarwal are examples of North-Eastern Indian women. 

In South India/West/ Central India, the Tulus (Aishwarya's people), the Konkani Brahmins (Leena Chandrevekar's people), the Nairs, the Iyers, and the Chitpavan Brahmins are reputed to have light-skinned AND light-eyed people.  Of course, there are many dark-featured people in these groups too.  

 

 I don't believe that any Indian sect or Indian regional ethnicity will look homogenous.  You will even find diversity within one family.  Why is my mom light-skinned, but my brothers and I are "dark"?   Why is Aishwarya Rai light-eyed and light-skinned, but her dad is extremely dark?  

Skin color also doesn't always correlate with facial features or eye color.   I have extremely dark relatives with light eyes and narrow features, and have light-skinned friends with blunt features.    

 

 

Edited by RajputGirl - 30-Aug-2006 at 20:04

Because you havent come across them doesnt mean they dont exist!!!

 

 

Exactly!  I repeat again that South Asia is a land of tremendous diversity.    

The South Asians in the West are miniscule in comparison to the multitude of ethnic groups residing in South Asia.     There are so many different groups that don't live in the West, and probably don't want to.   

I have never met a Chitpavan Brahmin here in America, but I had the opportunity to meet them in Maharashtra (when I went to visit some relatives).   I also never met any Indian with blonde hair, until I went to my parents' hometown in Allahabad.   

When you go to every part of South Asia, it opens up your eyes.

And to the person that said that they've never seen a Punjabi with light eyes, it exists.  Light eyes can occur in any South Asian community for that matter.    It's just that some communities may have a higher proportion of it? 

Edited by RajputGirl

That's right. I live in California, US where there is large population of Indian. There is a city name Artesia and it is also known as "Little India" because of half of the population are Indian or Indian-descent. I have been there many times.  Frankly speaking, so far I have never rubbed up against any Indian with the facial feature and skin complexion as it depicted in the poster. The characters in the poster do show more resemblance to Persian or Arab  or even Turk than the typical Indian.

Um, what is your definition of "typical Indian features?"  If you read my previous post, there technically is no such thing as a "typical " Indian anyway. 

I'm sorry, but I don't perceive our celebrities as looking "Arab."  I can tell such Indians apart from Arabs, Turks and Persians. 

Aishwarya Rai's big eyes, pouty lips and nose is actually quite common among Indian women.   I thought Indian women were known for their big eyes and doll-like features?

 The only deceiving thing is that she has light hair and light eyes.    But if you examine the facial structure and hair texture of Indian celebrities, you will notice that such features aren't that hard to find among Indians. 

Edited by RajputGirl

Originally posted by TeldeInduz I havent seen any Punjabis with non-brown eyes really (i've heard of some, and I've seen what looked to be hazel-ish perhaps). All the Punjabis I saw had brown eyes though basically. Pashtuns I've seen are about a quarter non brown eyed (10%-30%) and the rest brown eyed.

I admit I've seen a lot more Pathans with light eyes than Punjabis but there's even a Sikh girl in one of my classes right now with the last name Brar and very light eyes.  Still of course it could be that she is remotely Pashtun or something but you'll need to do more to prove that it's not possible to have light eyed Punjabis. 

About the Kapoor thing. "Yaqoob Khan, a milkman, studied with Raj Kapoor in a primary school and later Kapoor got admission to Khalsa Dharam School at Khyber Bazar in the higher grade. Yaqoob said the Kapoor�s love for Peshawar and Hindko language could be seen from the fact that Shami Kapoor and Dilip Kumar, another Peshawar resident, co-starred in a film and spoke Hindko in a Hindi film." http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_29-12-20 03_pg7_25  Hindko is spoken by the Hindu Pathans. 50 years ago, the Yusufzai tribe of Mardan (next to Peshawar) spoke Hindko, so it's pretty likely that Raj Kapoor & his family were Pathans from this region originally. If they were Punjab I'd expect them to trace their origin to the Punjab, not to Peshawar.

Doesn't Peshawar have a large Punjabi population? 

Apparently Peshawar still even has a sizeable Sikh population:

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20030622/world.htm

The actual bases of Punjabi in Pakistan are Nankana Sahib and Peshawar. At Nankana Sahib, there are nearly 550 boys studying in Guru Nanak Devji Public High School. The councillor of Nanakana Sahib, Mr Mastan Singh, who is also managing director of the school, says that, out of the 550 students, 125 are Sikhs. However, all students are taught Punjabi. About the propagation of Punjabi, Mr Mastan Singh says the community should not look towards the government. Instead, it should itself endeavour with its own resources to teach Punjabi to the younger generation. Punjabi also has a strong foothold at Peshawar because of the thick concentration of the Sikh families � which are more than 100. There are two schools � Bhai Joga Singh School and Guru Angad Devji School � where children of the Sikh families learn Punjabi. Though Sikh boys speak a fluent Pushto, Punjabi still thrives in these lands, thanks to the Sikhs� love for their mother tongue.

And Prithviraj Kapoor was born in Punjab proper anyway:

http://www.upperstall.com/people/prithviraj.html

He was born in Prithvinath Kapoor in a middle-class landlord family in Samundri, a district of the industrial township of Lyallpur, Punjab, the son of a police officer.

Telde,

Just out of curiosity, are you Pakistani ? 

Originally posted by TeldeInduz Your link is wrong. Prithviraj Kapoor (father of Raj Kapoor) was born in Peshawar and was a Pathan. Baburao Patel, the editor and publisher of the top cinema magazine, Film India (the renowned magazine of 30s, 40s and 50s) made an observation about Prithviraj Kapoor saying, � There is no place in the films for uncouth brawny Pathans who think they can make it as actors.� In his reply to Film India, Prithviraj said, �Baburao, do not provoke this Pathan. If there is no place for me in the Indian films I shall swim across the seven seas to Hollywood and make it there as an actor.� Prithviraj did not need to go to Hollywood. That is history. http://www.deshvidesh.com/article%20HTML%20files/Four_Gen_Of _Kapoor.htm  Prithviraj Kapoor's father worked in Peshawar also. Dewan Basheswarnath Kapoor (Prithviraj Kapoor's father), a retired Sub Inspector of Police in Peshawar (now in Pakistan)   http://www.deshvidesh.com/article%20HTML%20files/Four_Gen_Of _Kapoor.htm  __________________________ Samandri in Lyallpur given in your link was where Prithviraj Kapoor's grandparent worked as a policeman. Bashesharnath was in the police. Prithviraj's grandfather, the rather stately Dewan Keshavmal Kapoor, had been the tehsildar of Samundari in Lyallpur district (now in Pakistan). http://specials.rediff.com/movies/2006/feb/02slide1.htm

You're right!
http://www.hindu.com/lr/2004/12/05/stories/2004120500020100. htm

BOMBAY 1928. A strikingly handsome 21-year-old Pathan arrives by Frontier Mail, suitcase in one hand, his lucky hockey stick in the other. A fellow Pathan watchman lets him into the Imperial Studio. The leading star picks him out from a line of extras to partner her in the film. And Prithviraj Kapoor never looks back, he goes to play a crucial role in India's film and theatre history.

I had no idea there were Hindu Pathans too

Originally posted by malizai_ Originally posted by jayeshks Umm, I've met several Punjabis with light eyes.  That anecdotal evidence is about as meaningless as yours.  I'm confused about your point though.  How does being from Peshawar make it more likely that the Kapoors are Pathan and not Punjabi?   Let me categorically state that having fairer skin and lighter eyes does not equate to beauty. Beauty is a an amalgamation of many features and proportionality.

 

 

Word.  Associating beauty with what region you are from or what ethnicity you are is just stupid.  If you go to RateDesi.com (a site filled with second-generation South-Asian Americans), you will see numerous threads dedicated to that.  It's sad how they didn't even grow up in South Asia, and that's all what they talk about.   When they try to prove that their group is better-looking than other Desi groups, they always use the "we're lighter than other Indians" claim.  

That's why I didn't understand why some of the posters were over-analyzing the Kapoor's whereabouts.  Why does it matter?  

My mom remarried a Punjabi man when I was little.  According to her wishes, I'm not allowed to acknowledge to anyone that he is my step-father.    I've had people tell me stupid stuff like, "No wonder your brothers are so tall because you're half-Punjabi," or "No wonder your cute because you got the Punjabi genes!"

Ummm...what the heck?  The joke is on them, because my Punjabi dad isn't even my biological father.   So,  I'm not really "half-Punjabi."        

Edited by RajputGirl

Originally posted by Omar al Hashim One thing I find odd, is talking to Indians you get the idea that Punjabi's are the tough big people. But in Pakistan everyone picks on the Punjabis, they're the guys to push around.

Well you obviously haven't heard the 'Sardar' jokes then   They get stereotyped as being the not-so-clever tough-guy (no offence to any Sardars reading).  Then again my community gets stereotyped as being chatty, bad with money and lazy...we all get to share the love

Originally posted by RajputGirl Telde, Just out of curiosity, are you Pakistani ?

 

Must be the name that gave it away.