Abhay Deol may have cast a bright spotlight on Bollywood’s troubling endorsement of fairness creams. But his naming and shaming posts are only the tip of this too-white iceberg. Curious about just how many men and women celebrities endorse fairness products, extra fairness products, deep white and milky white fairness products, The News Minute took to the internet to find out.
And we were blinded by just how much pearly, shiny white skin there was in India’s celeb sphere.
There's a range of stars from every state on this list - and not all of them have endorsed the big brands. In the painstaking research (not really) that we did to put together this list, we even learned the names of some obscure brands - Roop Mantra anyone?
And of course, we're not claiming that this is the full list. It's long, yes, but we're sure there are many stars in many industries who endorse such products.
Check out out list here. We bet there’s more than a few ‘shining’ lights you wouldn’t expect - and if we've missed anyone, do tell us!
1. Mammootty – Indulekha Fairness Soap
2. Nitya Menen – Dhatri Fairness Face Pack
3. Shah Rukh Khan – Fair and Handsome
4. Aishwarya Rai – Loreal White Perfect
5. Genelia D’Souza – Garnier Light Moisturiser
6. John Abraham – Garnier Men Facewash
7. Sonam Kapoor- L'Oreal Pearl Perfect
8. Asin – Fairever Fairness Cream
9. Sriya Saran Garnier White Complete
10. Trisha Krishnan – Fairever Fairness Cream
11. Diya Mirza – Body Shop's Moisture White
12. Deepika Padukone – Neutrogena Fine Fairness
13. Priyanka Chopra and Saif Ali Khan – Ponds White Beauty
14. Priyanka Chopra Garnier – Light Fairness Moisturiser
15. Katrina Kaif – Olay Natural White
16. Shahid Kapoor – Vaseline Men Whitening Face Cream
17. Suriya – Fair and Handsome
18. Hrithik Roshan – Fair and Handsome Instant Fairness Facewash
19. Esha Deol – Garnier Light
20. Virat Kohli – Fair and Lovely Max Fairness
21. Vidya Balan – Dabur UVeda
22. Preity Zinta – Roop Mantra Fairness Cream
23. Emran Hashmi – Me Glow
24. Sidharth Malhotra – Fair and Lovely
25. Ileana D’Cruz – Ponds White Beauty
26. Yami Gautam – Fair and Lovely
27. Kareena Kapoor – Lakme
28. Samantha – Gokul Sandiva
29. Kavya Madhavan – Dhatri Fairness Face Pack