India Focus

Shah Rukh Khan, Bollywood’s biggest star and corporate India’s most ubiquitous brand ambassador, is coming under pressure to abandon his controversial endorsement of a men’s skin-lightening cream.

Television commercials for Fair and Handsome, airing in August, show Mr Khan (or “SRK”) lauding a product that many see as entrenching discrimination based on skin colour by encouraging people to bleach themselves a lighter hue.

“To have a product based on a stigma is bad enough, but then to get a leading Bollywood actor to endorse it is a very silly decision,” said Suhel Seth, managing partner of Counselage, a strategic image management firm. “It’s not as if SRK needs the money. He should align himself with useful causes.”

Mr Khan, India’s Tom Cruise, is the first Bollywood superstar to lend his image to a skin-lightening product. Civil rights groups say the creams reinforce prejudice and undermine efforts to eradicate racial and ethnic discrimination.

“When the reigning star of Hindi cinema publicly endorses a cream that openly advocates fairness, lightness of skin, as desirable, nay necessary, it is a damn bad show. How could he do it?” wrote Shailaja Bajpai, a columnist in the Indian Express.

In the commercial, circulating on YouTube, Mr Khan urges a dark-complexioned and depressed-looking young man, struggling to attract female attention, to stop using skin-lightening products designed for women.

“Why are you secretly using a cream for girls?” Mr Khan asks. “Their skin is soft. Yours is rough and tough.” Several shades whiter and visibly more self-confident by the end of the 40-second commercial, the young man duly snares the girl of his dreams.

The adverts are the result of a two-year deal, reportedly worth $1.25m, (€930,000, £630,000), which the actor signed in June with Fair and Handsome’s makers, the Kolkata-based Emami Group.

The row over his endorsement, which has coincided with India’s celebration of the 60th anniversary of its liberation from colonialism, threatens to damage his status as the country’s default advertising vehicle. His office said yesterday that he was shooting and unavailable for comment.

Emami executives have admitted it took “seven to eight meetings” to persuade Mr Khan to endorse Fair and Handsome. In June, the actor said the endorsement was “yet another step in strengthening my faith in Emami and their products”.

Mr Khan, one of India’s most visible Muslims, sponsors everything from Hyundai cars to Pepsi. He first illustrated his appeal to “metrosexual” consumers in 2005 with a sensuous, semi-naked appearance in a Lux soap advert. Skin-lightening products are growing in popularity in India, enjoying about $320m in annual sales.

Indian actress Shilpa Shetty will play a character from Indian mythology in her next film, her publicist said on Wednesday.Shetty will star in “Hanuman”, a film based on the ancient Sanskrit epic “Ramayana”, and will play the part of Sita, who is kidnapped by a vicious demon king triggering a gory battle, said Dale Bhagwagar, her publicist.

Shetty recently hit international headlines for enduring racist abuse on the celebrity version of the Big Brother television show in Britain.

The American actor Keanu Reeves may have been asked to appear in the film, which is being directed by Uru Patel, Bhagwagar said.

Bollywood is in dire need of a number of super hits during the current year. The current year so far has had a good number of small and big films, but unfortunately most of them have miserably failed to hit the box office. In fact, big films have proved disasters so far. Only last month (July) a Salman-Govinda partnership movie of David Dhawan titled ‘Partner’ did hit the screen and attracted a large crowd but didn’t fare too well at the box office. The similar fate met with Maniratnam’s ‘Guru’, Vipul Shah’s ‘Namastey London’ and ‘Apne’ (starring the Deo family). Though these movies belonged to big banners and had cast big stars, they didn’t mark the marquee. The list includes ‘Eklavya - The Royal Guard’, ‘Salam-E-Ishq’, ‘Shaka Laka Boom Boom’ and even much-hyped ‘Jhoom Baabar Jhoom’. Films like ‘Bheja Fry’, ‘Cheeni Kum’ and ‘Metro’ did a good business but couldn’t reach all corners of the country. These movies remained confined to multiplexes and big cities.

Disappointed with the current year’s results so far, the mega movies by big banners casting big stars are planning to enter the marquee with their best ones during the remaining five months of the year. These movies will include Raj Kumar Santoshi’s ‘Halla Bol’ (starring Ajay Devgan ), Sajid Khan directed ‘Hey Baby’ (with Akshay Kumar) ,Ram Gopal Verma’s Aag’, a multi starrer and Zaid Khan starring ‘Speed’ plus Sanjay Gupta’s ‘Dus Kahaniyan’. All these will be screened this month (August).

Next month of September will hit theaters with ‘Bhool Bhulaiya’, Priyadarshan’s ‘Dhol’, Subhash Ghai’s Anil Kapoor starrer ‘Black and White’, Ram Gopal Verma’s ‘Darling’ starring no less than Fardeen Khan and Esha Deol. Come October, and the viewers will be presented with ‘Hello’ followed by Ashutosh Gowalikar’s ‘Jodha Akbar’ (starring Hrithik Roshan and Aaishwarya Rai ). Significantly, Yash Chopra’s ‘Laaga Chunri Mein Daag’ starring Rani Mukherjee is also expected to hit the box office.

The last two months of 2007 will not remain behind in presenting equally strong movies . While Sanjay Bhansali’s ‘Saanwariya’ casting Salman Khan and Rani Mukherjee , Yash Chopra’s ‘Aaja Nach Le’ with the return of dhak dhak girl Madhuri Dixit to Bollywood and Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Om Shanti Om’ will follow, the year will close with mega movies like Bipasha Basu and John Abraham starrer ‘Goal’, Ram Gopal Verma’s ‘Sarkar 2′ with Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Priyanka Chopra starrer ‘Love Story 2050′ produced by Harry Baweja is likely to close the year. Industry pundits hope that most of the films coming in the period from August to December will certainly boost the industry’s morale by succeeding at the box office.

Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt, jailed for six years for receiving guns from gangsters involved in the country’s worst bombings, was released from prison in western India early on Thursday.Dutt, sporting a beard and a shaved head, walked free following 24 days in jail and after being granted bail by the Supreme Court on Monday while his lawyers challenge the conviction.

“I knew he would walk out free. I’m so happy,” Trishala Dutt, the actor’s daughter and a U.S. resident, told local television by telephone. “I can’t believe it’s happening.”

The macho superstar began serving his six-year sentence on July 31 — less the 16 months he served while awaiting trial over the bomb attacks that killed 257 people in India’s commercial capital of Mumbai in 1993.

Dutt, 48, stepped out of the jail in Pune city and shook the hands of police officers before leaving for home.

Dressed in a white, striped shirt, he was received by a few friends and lawyers, flown to Mumbai in a private jet and then driven to his house in a black limousine.

The actor, who earned fame playing anti-hero and gangster roles, was welcomed by family and friends, some of whom had arrived from overseas. A coconut was broken at the doorstep as an auspicious ritual.

His sister Priya, a lawmaker in India’s upper house of parliament, hugged him. Dozens of fans gathered outside his home.

But the respite for Dutt could be temporary.

His lawyers had petitioned the country’s top court against his conviction and sought bail until that appeal was ruled on.

They said they could not argue the case as they were yet to get a copy of the judgment of the Mumbai court that sentenced Dutt. The court agreed to release the actor until the lawyers get a copy of the verdict.

Grâce au Taj Mahal, Agra est incontestablement le site touristique le plus fréquenté de l’Inde. N’y eut-il rien d’autre à voir, le voyage n’en vaudrait pas moins la peine.

Mais il se trouve que ce n’est pas le cas. Agra a été la capitale d’Akbar le Grand, qui y éleva un fort. Avant qu’il ne l’abandonne pour aller combattre à la frontière du nord-ouest. Il fit bâtir à 37 kilomètres au sud-ouest, pour célébrer la naissance de son fils, la merveilleuse ville de Fatehpur Sikri, maintenant déserte. Non loin d’Agra, à Sikandra, se dresse le tombeau de l’empereur. En outre, la tradition des artisans qu’il fit venir pour participer à l’édification de ce qui devait être l’ensemble monumental moghol le plus beau s’est perpétuée jusqu’à nos jours, on peut ainsi faire à Agra des achats intéressants de bijoux, d’articles en cuivre, d’ivoire sculpté, de marbre incrusté.

Agra n’apparaît dans l’histoire qu’en 1501, date à laquelle le sultan Sikandar Lodi en fit sa capitale, Baber s’en empara en 1526 et par la même occasion, mit la main sur le Koh-i-Noor, diamant qui finira par faire partie des joyaux de la couronne britannique. Son petit-fils Akbar choisit Agra pour capitale, Delhi abritant à son gré, trop de frustes Afghans. Au XVII ième siècle, sous Jahangir, la ville était devenue l’un des grands foyers culturels de l’islam.

Mais son fils Chah Jahan se lassa peu à peu d’Agra après l’achèvement du tombeau de Mumtaz-i-Mahal, son épouse bien-aimée. En 1648, il transféra de nouveau le siège de la capitale à Delhi, abandonnant les trésors d’Agra aux vandales (parmi lesquels les Anglais, après 1857).