So in today's news, Aahna Kumra decided to pay a tribute to cricketer Jhulan Goswami. Kumra thought of paying the tribute by trying to make herself look like her. And what did she do? Indian team's uniform, donned short hair and darkened her skin-tone.
Yes, in her bid to go that extra mile, Kumra did what she shouldn't have done. Sitting well inside the mould of the colourist stereotype, Kumra's decision to darken her skin, totally backfired.
Aahana's appreciation post
Social media went into a state of fury over Aahana's "uninformed" and "ignorant" choice. Sharing several pictures of herself, dressed as Jhulan, Aahana wrote, "No I'm not promoting any film. This is purely a tribute to a woman I admire the most after spending time with her and learning her whole story about her journey, her hardships and her passion for the sport!@jhulangoswami fondly called jhulan di by all her teammates is loved and admired by all the members of the Indian women's cricket team! This photo series is my tribute to her and hopefully as actresses one day we can all break stereotypes and be the best versions of ourselves by telling the greatest stories!!@jhulangoswami thank you for your story! And I wish and pray the best for you forever!"
Social media loses it
"Why painted your face black? To shame her on fairness ground or sheer racism?" asked one user. "What's with the darker tone make-up? Instead, why don't we hire actors with a similar colour tone, it would have been so much better and looked far more natural," said another. "What a shame that you need such make up to depict that character which is not even looking convincing.
In fact, it's ridiculing the person who is a legend," opined one netizen. "What a tribute by colouring yourself black ... Not to 1 per cent you show any resemblance to her so is it a tribute or invitation for directors to direct a film on her and cast you as main lead or are just making fun of her?" asked another.
On the other hand, Jhulan Goswami seems to have liked Aahana's get-up and said, "Great job keep it up!!"
