If I have 10 things to do, how I look should be the 11th thing on my list: Nandita Das

Actor-director Nandita Das on Monday said even though the phrase 'beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder' is a cliche, it rings true as there cannot be only one definition of what it means to be beautiful.

Das said the idea primarily stems from a patriarchal set-up and hoped a time will come when achievements would precede looks.

"Even though we say, 'unity in diversity', we've never really celebrated diversity. It's a few people who are always going to define what beauty is going to be. Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. It's a cliche, but it's a true cliche. Why do we have to have one notion of beauty anyway?" she said.

"How important is it (beauty) for me? If I have 10 things to do, how I look should be the 11th thing (on my list). Most often I'm unable to even finish the four things that I had to do. So how much of a priority are we making defining us. We all like when people compliment us but we also want to further our interests and talent," she added.

The filmmaker was speaking at the launch of the 'India's Got Colour' campaign, hosted by UNESCO and produced by Nandita Das Initiatives with the support of JSW Group.

The discussion was moderated by Eric Falt, Director and UNESCO Representative, and also had Kavitha Emmanuel, Founder and Director of Women of Worth, who started the 'Dark Is Beautiful' campaign in 2009 as a panelist.

Das been supporting the campaign since 2013.

To celebrate their 10th anniversary, the campaign was reinvented and got a more inclusive name, 'India's Got Colour'.

A video, featuring Swara Bhasker, Radhika Apte, Ali Fazal, Divya Dutta, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Tillotama Shome, Vikrant Massey among others, aiming to spark a conversation around colourism in India, went online on September 25.

Das said she became the face of the campaign six years ago by default as "many of the actors were becoming lighter and lighter with every film".

Without taking names, she said, "There's such a lot of pressure on women today to be lighter. They are doing all sorts of invasive surgeries, using problematic creams and medicines that are cancer causing."
"So you're constantly having to overcompensate. In films, if there's dark woman, she has to be exceptional or she has to be a very nice person. She has to be something more."