Do you remember this racist ad featuring Aishwarya Rai? Throwback to the super controversial Kalyan Jewelers campaign

New Delhi: Bollywood’s colorist attitude doesn’t come off as a surprise to anyone. In the film industry of a diverse country like India, it is shameful that the number of dark-skinned actresses can be counted on one hand.

However, this Kalyan Jewelers 2015 ad featuring Aishwarya Rai undoubtedly took things way too far.

Nearly 8 years ago, when the advertisement first appeared in the newspapers, it caused an unprecedented, but not unexpected uproar on social media.

For some strange reason, a huge brand like Kalyan Jewelers thought that it would be okay to have a malnourished, dark-skinned child hold an umbrella over Aishwarya Rai, who is sitting all decked up in her glory.

The campaign not only drew flak for its obvious colorist tones but also for trying to promote child labor and slavery.

Shorty, the flames of criticism also engulfed Aishwarya Rai who otherwise remains out of controversies. The actress also received demands of apology from many activist groups who were protesting against the photoshoot. One activist group wrote an open letter to Rai, asking how would she feel if the child holding the umbrella was Aradhya.

However, the PR team of the actress clarified that she wasn’t aware of the final layout of the advertisement. Sharing the pre-edited picture, the Press team further added that had Aishwarya Rai known of what the final outcome would be, she would have never agreed to be part of such a campaign.

Meanwhile, Kalyan Jewelers also withdrew the advertisement from their campaign. The jewelry giant also issued an apology saying that their advertisement has unintentionally hurt the sentiments of the public. Expressing regret, Kalyan Jewelers wrote that the idea behind the promotional photoshoot was to showcase timeless beauty and royalty.