Avika Gor on refusing to endorse fairness products: ‘It was a conscious decision to not degrade anyone’

Actor Avika Gor has opened up on her refusal to endorse fairness products, saying that they promote an ‘unrealistic approach towards the concept of beauty’. She also said that it was a conscious decision to not ‘degrade anyone’ as she does not believe that being fair makes one ‘confident and beautiful’.

Speaking to a leading daily, Avika Gor said, “Unfortunately we have been fed the wrong notion when it comes to the idea of an ideal beauty standard. Over the years we have seen so many advertisements where being fair is considered to be beautiful and I have never been comfortable with this idea. Being fair cannot be equivalent to your overall personality. Another reason why I refused to endorse these products is that I know that this kind of unrealistic approach towards the concept of beauty can have a lasting impression on young minds.”

“As an actor, it was a conscious decision to not degrade anyone but to send out the right message. Being fair won’t make you confident and beautiful, but it’s your work ethics, your thinking, talent, and overall personality that matters the most as these will be your defining qualities…There was a time when I was doing great on the work front but I still doubted my talents and felt ugly. I didn’t like what I saw in the mirror. But the day I shifted my perspective, started taking care of my body, loving myself, eating right, and staying happy, that’s when the change happened,” she added.

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Avika, who is now 23 years old, appeared on Balika Vadhu as a child actor, essaying the role of Anandi. She played the role of young Anandi for two years in the serial that ran from 2008 to 2016.

Last year, she opened up about her life-changing weight loss journey. She had said that her weight gain was because of eating ‘anything and everything’ without working out and not due to health conditions. Avika added that she did not give her body the ‘respect’ that it deserved.