Super 30: Mrunal Thakur defends Hrithik Roshan’s brownface, says ‘whenever I saw Hrithik in dark complexion, I would end up calling him Anand’

Hrithik Roshan will be seen next in Super 30, where he has donned a complexion several shades darker than his natural tone. The depiction drew the ire of online viewers when the trailer was out.

Actor Hrithik Roshan’s upcoming film, Super 30, will hit the theatres of July 12, but even days before the release, the film has been mired in controversies - the latest one is the alleged ‘brownfacing’ of the lead actor, Hrithik . Actor Mrunal Thakur who features opposite Hrithik in the film, has now defended the decision.

Hrithik Roshan plays Patna-based math wizard Anand Kumar in Super 30. (Instagram)

Speaking to Mid Day, the Love Sonia actor said that the dark complexion was needed in the film. She was quoted as saying: “I think it was required for the character. Whenever I saw Hrithik in his dark complexion, I would end up calling him Anand and not Hrithik. When people see the film, they will understand why it was necessary. In Love Sonia (2018), they (the makers) made me three or four shades darker, and it worked.”

When the trailer of the film, in which Hrithik will be seen playing the math wizard from Bihar, Anand Kumar, was unveiled, social media was quick to slam it, saying that it only reinforced the class-colour stereotype. Patna-based Anand is well known for helping children from underprivileged sections to crack the elite IIT JEE exams.

When the MeToo controversy hit Bollywood, Hrithik’s Super 30, too, took a beating after its director Vikas Bahl was called out over sexual harassment. In the aftermath of the Me Too controversy, Vikas’ name was dropped from the film’s credit but was later reinstated after his name was cleared by an internal enquiry committee of Reliance Entertainment, one of the producers of the film.

Recently, the film also ran into a faceoff with Kangana Ranaut’s film, Mental Hai Kya. To avoid a needless clash with Ekta Kapoor’s production, makers of Super 30, shifted the release date from July 26 (when Mental Hai Kya hits screens) to July 12.

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