The fight to stop skin lightening in India

Witness History

In 2013, Emami, an Indian beauty and wellness company, put out an advert for their skin lightening product 'Fair and Handsome'.

It features billionaire blockbuster actor Shah Rukh Khan telling a young man that he can get more attention and live a better life if he uses the product.

Kavitha Emmanuel who was campaigning to end colourism in India, saw the advert and decided to petition against it.

She managed to gather 20,000 signatures and went to the Emami headquarters to ask them to take it down.

Kavitha tells Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty how she handed out boxes of dark chocolate with 'Dark and Handsome' written on them, to make her point.

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(Photo: Women with lightening cream on. Credit: Getty Images)