Calendar of dark-skinned goddesses hopes to break stereotypes

Ad filmmaker Bharadwaj Sundar and photographer Naresh Nil joined hands to conceptualise and execute this ambitious shoot that has since gone viral – a calendar of dark-skinned goddesses.

Indeed, the duo from the city wanted to dispel the notion that fair skin represents ‘good’ and dark means ‘bad’ – how better to signify it than using the faces, people worship every day?

“Even visually, we always envisage a cop as a fair-skinned guy and a thief as dark. We really wanted to do our bit to change this perception – that’s when we realised all the popular calendars showcasing pictures of Gods all depict them as fair. The idea struck us then – but we didn’t want famous people to portray these deities – as people shouldn’t miss the point. We wanted models who believed in the idea that dark is beautiful to come on board; that’s how we shortlisted them,” explains Bharadwaj.

What followed was some painstaking hours of work to transform this young group of models, actors and even lawyers into dark-skinned, radiant avatars that would make people ponder. Make-up artist Sridevi Ramesh put all her effort into bringing out the most elegant dark Lakshmi, Saraswati, Durga, Krishna, Shiva and so on.

The outcome has been largely positive with praise coming in from all quarters, though controversy has also beckoned, with many taking offense to the dark skin all the Gods and Goddesses sport. The team behind the shoot has no regrets though, and is sticking to their guns.

Sinitha Sathyanarayanan, a dancer and law student who is part of the calendar, says, “I depict Goddess Saraswati in the calendar, and it was a really gratifying experience. Coming from the Dravidian culture, I don’t know why so many Tamil people insult dark skin. This was an attempt to break that stereotype, using the most holy of images. Dark is divine!