Actress trolled for not being ‘Fair and Lovely’, complaint logded

A West Bengal actress has lodged a cyber complaint with the Kolkata Police Department, claiming that she has been targeted by online users because of her dark skin tone.

Shruti Das, who made her debut in the Bengali serial ‘Trinayani’ in 2019, claimed that she had been ridiculed for her skin tone for the last two years, but she couldn’t take it any longer as the assaults became more personal.

‘Initially, everyone around asked me to ignore the trolls, and so did I. But it only got more vicious with time. I am in a steady relationship with the director of my first TV serial ‘Trinayani’, and the hate brigade, after getting to know that, has been making distasteful remarks, questioning my character and my talent,’ said the actress.

The actress was instructed to submit the data to the Kolkata Police’s cyber department after tagging them on Facebook to bring notice to the harsh comments directed at her.

The case is being investigated, said a senior police official. ‘The cyber cell of the Kolkata Police has received an email from actor Shruti Das regarding the online abuse that she had been facing because of her dusky skin tone. The actor, in her complaint, has said she had been receiving such hatred since 2019. She has also attached screenshots of the social media comments,’ the officer said.

Shruti Das stated that her skin tone had become a talking point in the business, with some production units claiming that she wouldn’t have gotten her second gig if she hadn’t been given the appropriate type of cosmetics and presentation in the first serial. She made the point that she wasn’t the first actress to be chastised because of her skin color. ‘Some of my seniors, who are now big names had gone through identical complexion issues,’ she added.

In a country like India, where the majority of the population is brown, Parno Mitra, a film and television actor, believes it is a tragedy that individuals are targeted for their skin tone.

Director Swarnendu Samaddar, who is dating Ms. Das, said he has tried to shut down the trolls on social media several times but has barely helped.

‘In the industry, looks alone do not guarantee success. Talent matters more than anything else. Not just Shruti, but a number of others have created a reputation for themselves solely on the basis of their abilities. Trolls continue to make derogatory statements without consideration for the feelings of others. They should be subjected to severe punishment,’ he stated.