FC at TIFF 2023: Tannishtha reacts to ‘Ye upmarket character hai, gora makeup karna hain’, Shadeism in industry

In an exclusive interview with Film Companion, actor Tannishtha Chatterjee who was at at the Toronto International Film Festival 2023 with her film Yellow Bus spoke about shadeism in the industry, she spoke about how certain people with a certain skin tone are perceived differently than the rest and how the discrimination is still prevalent in the movie business

“In terms of skin tone, even make up artists have come to me and said mam ye thoda upmarket character hai, thoda gora makeup karna hain,” (this is an upmarket character, will have to do white makeup) said Chattejee in a conversation with Sneha Menon Desai. “I was like ki bhai upmarket character kya hota hain, nahi nahi padhi likhi hain, (what is this upmarket character, no no it means she is literate) I said I’m also padi likhi man, I have lived in big cities, I have travelled to the world, my parents are educated, I come from a very well off family and yeah there are people who have said that to me, I say mere jaisa upmarket character hain aap please skintone mat badliye.” (I say this is an upmarket character like me so don’t change the skintone)

Chatterjee is best known for performances in Parched (2015) and UNindian (2015). The actress was last seen in Hansal Mehta’s Scoop where she played a senior journalist. She will next be seen in Dahini- The Witch and The Sky is Mine.