Actress
Rimi Sen slammed for 'shameful' comment but her movie
still does well
SOMETIMES you have to wonder what goes
on in the coiffured heads of certain Bollywood denizens.
Take actress Rimi Sen.
The 25-year-old starlet has come under
heavy fire in the UK for a racist statement she made
while promoting her latest film Golmaal (Fun Unlimited),
reported Asians In Media (AIM), a British-Asian media
magazine.
Rimi told Bollywood website Glamsham.com:
'I play a sweet and beautiful girl in the film.
'The best thing that I like about the
film is that though it has four heroes, I am the only
heroine. Rohit Shetty is amazing as a director. He can
make even a black African look pretty.'
A case of 'open mouth, insert stilettoed
foot' perhaps?
The comments were published on the
website and later carried on Yahoo India. When The New
Paper checked Glamsham.com on Tuesday night, the offensive
remark had been removed.
British-African human rights group
Ligali condemned Rimi's statement on its website, saying
that the fact that 'a majority of readers saw Rimi Sen's
comments as acceptable for publication has exposed how
normalised anti-African ideology is within Bollywood
and its audiences'.
It added: 'It is unlikely that her
racist comments will hinder her career or that of the
journalist and media organisation that published this
anti-African statement.'
Unfortunately, Ligali's words are ringing
true.
Golmaal is No 8 on the UK film charts.
Glamsham.com editor Nitin Sethi told
The New Paper in an e-mail statement that the article
was based on a press release that was sent to him by
the production company.
He apologised for the negligence and
for 'hurting the sentiments of all those concerned'.
We also contacted the production company
Shree Ashtavinayak Cinevision which claimed ignorance
of the press release.
The company's spokesman Denis Selarkar
told The New Paper that it is investigating to see if
Rimi did make those comments.
'I am sure even if she did say it,
she didn't mean anything by it,' said Mr Selarkar.
Bollywood film critic for BBC Movies
Online Jaspreet Pandohar told AIM that Rimi's comments,
while 'shameful', did not surprise her.
She said: 'It not only reflects her
ignorance of other cultures and belief that black people
can't be naturally beautiful, but also illustrates India
and Bollywood's long-running obsession with fair skin.'
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