Actress Ulka Gupta, who rose to fame with Zee TV show Jhansi Ki Rani and portrayed the character of Manu (young Jhansi Ki Rani) in the serial is in the news. The actress is 19 years old now, and recently made shocking revelations about racism in the television industry in India. Isn’t that shocking? Ulka Gupta’s journey in the TV industry was not at all straightforward and easy. In a recent interview with DailyBhaskar, Ulka Gupta said that she was rejected in her auditions several times due to her skin colour! Ulka Gupta was quoted as saying, “I was very passionate about acting, but surprisingly at a very young age, I came across the dark side of our industry. After wrapping up Resham Dankh, my father and I used to go for auditions on a daily basis. And every time, I was disappointed to see that the producers are looking for a fair girl. According to them, a fair girl represents an upmarket girl. I was rejected so many times just for the sake of my dark skin.”
Ulka Gupta also revealed that when finally she did get another TV show, it was because of the character needed to have dark skin! The actress said to the daily, “Due to my complexion, I got the role of Saloni’s daughter in Saat Phere. Since that show focussed on the girl’s courage beyond her dark complexion; the casting directors finalised me. Otherwise, I was rejected most of the time. Surprisingly, after so many years, my casting agent still gets a few requirements stating, ‘Need a fair complexioned girl’. Honestly, I have stopped going for such auditions. Fair hone se koi upmarket nahi dikhta. (No one looks upmarket because of being white-skinned.) I want my talent to speak up for me and not the colour of my skin.”
Ulka Gupta made her television debut with Resham Dankh on Star One, but the show went off air within six months due to low television ratings. Ulka Gupta then bagged shows like Saat Phere, Jhansi Ki Rani and Khelti Hai Zindagi Aankh Micholi. But unfortunately, she was tagged her as a tantrum queen on the sets of Khelti Hai Zindagi Aankh Micholi, and got replaced by another child artiste. She revealed in an interview that due to various media reports she had had an adverse effect on her health and suffered a lot. “Can you believe that? At the age of 15, I was termed as a tantrum queen? At the age of playing and enjoying work, I was surrounded by controversies and politics. While doing KHZAM, I was depressed. I was blamed as unprofessional towards my work, which was totally false. Trust me, these negative reports did affect my health. I believe that at my growing age, I shouldn’t have been exposed to all this negativity. This was the reason, I did not take up any daily soap…. I wanted to grow up in a normal atmosphere,” the actress said.
