Sumbul Touqeer Khan, who rose to fame with her brilliant stint on the StarPlus show ‘Imlie’ has opened up about facing rejections due to her dark complexion. In a new interview, the actress recalled getting rejected in auditions as everyone wanted fair skin actors. Sumbul shared that when she started her acting career as a child actor initial days were quite tough. The actress mentioned that it was very demeaning and insulting as the requirement was always for fair child actors.
Speaking with ETimes TV, the ex-Bigg Boss contestant said, “When I came to Mumbai, my interest was never towards becoming an actress. My focus was to become a dancer, but I had a change of heart. 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.” ALSO READ: Bigg Boss 16’s Sumbul Touqeer Khan Finalised To Play Lead In Ekta Kapoor's Naagin 7? Father Reacts To Rumours, Makes SHOCKING Revelation
She added, “It was very demeaning and insulting. It was something I never appreciated and did not like. For me colour complexion doesn’t stand importance. It would affect him badly, and 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.”
Meanwhile, Sumbul, who hails from Madhya Pradesh, became a popular household name with Gul Khan’s drama series ‘Imlie’, which is a loose adaptation of the Bengali Ishti Kutum. The actress was recently seen in the Salman Khan-hosted reality show Bigg Boss 16. Although she could not win the show, she certainly won the hearts of the audience.