A quick survey of India's cosmetic industry betrays our 'darkest' secret: Indians favour fair complexion in a huge way. Need further proof? Scour a list of matrimonial advertisements in vain to find just one proclaiming 'Very dark, very beautiful.'
But hold on. Who decided that dark and dusky can't be beautiful?
Vogue Italia, a magazine considered by many to be among the world's foremost voices on high fashion, is celebrating the unique beauty of dark-skin in its upcoming July issue. Steven Meisel -- one of the fashion industry's most successful photographers -- and a platoon of the world's most beautiful dark-skinned models combined their talents to produce the groundbreaking issue, which features only dark-centric photo shoots and features.
In India too, despite the supposed setback of possessing a dark complexion, many of our best and most successful models and actresses are decidedly dusky. And all the more beautiful for it, too!
Let us salute these gorgeous women
Bipasha Basu
Oddly enough, the Bengali bombshell's rise from the Kolkata lass next door to 'Asia's Sexiest Woman' started with the afore-mentioned Mr Meisel.
After winning the very prestigious Ford Supermodel of the World contest at the remarkably young age of 17, Bips was spotted by Steven and subsequently featured in Vogue magazine. From that magical moment, she has had us all on Cloud Nine, perhaps most famously in Omkara's hit item number, Beedi....
Vidisha Pavate
Before Bipasha, it was Vidisha who won the Ford Supermodel of the Year title back in 1996 -- she was the contest's first-ever Indian winner.
Bangalore fashion guru Prasad Bidappa first convinced Vidisha to dabble in modelling in the mid-1990s and a short while later Paris, Milan and London came calling. Vidisha ultimately returned to India, where she has been a major force in marketing and modelling over the last decade
Mallika Sherawat
She's been called a number of things -- 'One of Asia's 100 most beautiful people', 'India's most expensive item girl' and 'India's number one vamp', to name a few.
And while Mallika's provocative item numbers and skimpy outfits may upset the moral sensibilities of many Indians, there's no one alive who'd dare say this Haryanvi heart-throb isn't hot, hot, hot!
Carol Gracias
This Mumbai lovely is a fave of India's fashion runways.
With her long, swaying limbs, gorgeous bronze skin and cute features, it's as if Carol was born to model. She won Femina Elite's Look of the Year title in 1998 and further cemented her star status with a second place finish in the first edition of Celebrity Big Boss where she won over a mainstream audience with her no-frills simplicity and her version of Hindi.
Malaika Arora Khan
Mallaika is unabashedly dusky, well into her 30s (she will be 33 on October 25), a mother of one and still reigns as one of India's iconic sex symbols. MTV India broadcast her to drawing rooms across the country, and she quickly rose from VJ to star. She has since become involved in a number of memorable dance numbers, with Dil Se's Chaiyya Chaiyya perhaps the most famous and best received.
Nandita Das
Though she's undeniably gorgeous, with girl-next-door good looks, there's more to Nandita than meets the eye. In an era that routinely casts females in vapid roles, where the importance is on pin-up quality and not the acting, she might well be India's most critically acclaimed young actress.
Her powerful performances in Deepa Mehta's Fire and Water, followed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's Aks, Chitra Palekar's Maati Maay and Santosh Sivan's recent Before The Rains have made her an international movie celebrity.
Monikangana Dutta
If there's a challenger to Carol's crown, it's certainly Monikangana, currently India's hottest model.
The dusky, earthy Dutta stole the show at Mumbai's 2007 Lakme Fashion Week, with designer after designer choosing her to don their showstoppers.
In October 2007 she starred alongside Preity Zinta, Bipasha Basu and Priyanka Chopra on the inaugural Vogue India cover shot, which further served to boost her career.
Rajshree Thakur
Rajshree, best known for her role as Saloni in the television serial Saat Phere, won Best Fresh Face of the Year at the Indian Telly Awards in 2006. And what a face it is! Creamy smooth skin the shade of mocha, gorgeous, piercing eyes and shimmering black hair.
What's most ironic is that she was cast as the 'dark' Saloni, whose family is worried she will never get a marriage proposal. And despite the negative role, Rajshree has emerged as the show's star and an industry up and comer.
Sheetal Malhar
The lithe, dusky Sheetal has been blessed with universal good looks -- and has the endorsements to prove it. After winning the 1994 Femina Look of the Year award, she quickly became a hit with advertisers worldwide thanks to flawless skin and radiant hair.
As one of India's more vocal dark-skinned beauties, she's been known to speak out against Bollywood and the Indian advertising industry for its fair skin 'fetish'.
Nina Manuel
The quintessential sexy, sultry beauty, in just a few short years Nina's done it all. She's modelled for the fashion industry's bigwigs, anchored shows on prime-time television and hosted several star-studded events.
Up next for Nina is a rumoured foray into Bollywood as an item dancer, which, judging by her past successes, is sure to be a huge hit.
Diandra Soares
Diandra doesn't have to say anything about the fair versus dark controversy. She lets her pictures do the talking.
With penetrating eyes and a sizzling hot body, Diandra is the hottie of choice for men's magazines. In fact, her beach-side Maxim magazine photo-shoot has become the stuff of legend.
Ujjwala Raut
If any Indian model has the right to the Supermodel title it has to be Ujjwala, the most successful international Indian model of the current era.
Name a high-end fashion house and she's likely donned its wares on the catwalk: Yves Saint-Laurent, Victoria's Secret, Roberto Cavalli, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Valentino and Oscar de la Renta, to name a few.
Given all the recent Western interest in the allure of Indian women, it can be argued that Ujjwala sparked the movement with her trans-continental success
