Sumbul Touqeer recalls facing discrimination for her ‘dark skin’, calls it demeaning and insulting

Bigg Boss 16's Sumbul Touqeer Khan recalls how she felt insulted as a child actor, when everyone demanded fair-skinned kids for roles.

Bigg Boss 16 contestant Sumbul Touqeer Khan has revealed she faced taunting remarks for her skin colour, when she shot for her now-popular show Imlie. She also recalled how most producers wanted fair-skinned children for the roles she auditioned for as a child actor. ()

Sumbul Touqeer Khan recalls her initial days in the industry.

Sumbul became a household name after playing the lead role in popular TV show Imlie. After her eviction, Sumbul had said that she was hurt after the allegations that she was obsessed with co-contestant Shalin Bhanot.

Sumbul told ETimes, "When I bagged Imlie also things didn’t change instantly. People would call up and say 'Arre kaisi ladki ko cast kar liya, kaali hai (what kind of a girl did you cast, she is black)'. I had felt very bad that day and I cried a lot but after the telecast, things started to change. Our opening TRP numbers were 2.2 and the number just went up from there. It never came down till the time I was a part of it. People forgot how I looked, they just noticed my work. The people, who disliked me also started praising me. I feel this is all based on convenience."

She also recalled her initial days in Mumbai and said that was focused on becoming a dancer and had no interest in becoming an actor. "My initial days were very tough. I started as a child actor and whenever I went for auditions they only wanted fair-skinned actors. The requirement was always for fair child actors. It was very demeaning and insulting. It was something that I never appreciated and did not like. I had started to believe that if you are dark-skinned you can’t be a lead heroine. All the heroines, if you see them all, were mostly fair. I don’t have anything against anyone but this is what I started to believe. But this stereotype broke when I bagged Imlie."

Alongwith Sumbul, MC Stan, Sajid Khan, Shiv Thakare, Abdu Rozik and Nimrit Kaur Ahluwalia also participated on the Salman Khan reality show. Rapper MC Stan won the show earlier this year.