A British Show With A Brown Lead: How Bridgerton 2 Looks Beyond Skin Colour

Which is my fave show of the season? Bridgerton 2. Why, because of Ashley Simone? The answer is a resounding ‘Yes’.

Not just because Priyanka Chopra Jonas took to her Instagram stories to show her love for the series for representing Indian culture through the Sharma sisters, Edwina and Kate Sharma, played by actors Charithra Chandran and Simone Ashley.

“I have to say, it’s so wonderful to see desi representation on mainstream TV. It was such an anomaly when I started. Love the show and the Sharma sisters,” Chopra said while posting a picture of Chandran and Ashley.

I on the other hand am not looking at just ‘Indian culture’ representation but the acceptance of Indian complexion on a mainstream show aired worldwide. The fact that Bridgerton 2 ruled at No. 1 for weeks on the OTT platform Netflix says so much about this acceptance.

What I feel is our film industry should hang its head in shame for holding on to archaic casting practices based on the complexion of lead actors while a Tamil woman, who actually looks like a Tamil woman is being celebrated for her talent and stunning beauty across the rest of the world. And to top it all, nowhere did one feel that colourism is an issue at all throughout the show, nor did we have high society ‘aunties’ whisper about the complexion of the sisters. In fact, Edwina was declared the ‘diamond’ of the season by the Queen who herself is a person of colour.

 Why Bridgerton series is a hit

Julia Quinn’s best-selling series of novels - ‘Bridgerton’ is the base for the series which is set in the opulent and cut-throat world of London high society during the Regency period.

The first season of the romantic period drama focused on the passionate courtship between Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor) and Simon Basset, the Duke of Hastings (Rege-Jean Page). The Duke was a man of colour here. And the Queen of England was shown as a black woman. That was again a new kind of acceptance. This first season was a super hit.

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Bridgertons Are Not Done With Edwina Sharma, Character To Return In Season 3

In line with the now established Julia Quinn’s novels, Bridgerton season 2 tells the story of Daphne’s elder brother and viscount Lord Anthony Bridgerton’s (Jonathan Bailey) story of finding a suitable wife.

Enter Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley) and her younger sister Edwina Sharma (Charithra Chandran) from India, Lord Anthony starts to court Edwina and Kate soon discovers that his intentions for marriage are not honourable. So, Kate tries to stop this alliance, in the process the two have unexpected face-offs.

I am sure Indians love the show and that they did not miss the intricate embroidery on the Victorian gowns to the orchestra cover of the title track from Karan Johar’s ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’ to the Haldi ceremony. One thing is for sure Bridgerton 2 producers have tried to seamlessly blend the Indian cultural representation into a British show.

 Bridgerton 2 highlights

So, will this season show the way for the Indian film industry as a whole, which runs after fair-skinned actors?

Ashley is an outstanding actor but is equally stunning to look at as well, her complexion notwithstanding, in fact, she looks exotic. And the show producers and directors have gained a huge respect for not having done anything overtly to whitewash her skin tone which is a huge plus for me. I have nothing but respect for Bridgeton casting directors for choosing a gorgeous, talented, and perfect lead.

Unfair fair: Bridgerton 2 Looks Beyond Skin Colour

So why is this representation important?

Don’t we all know the amount of pressure there is for people to change the colour of their skin in our country?

Movies, advertisement billboards, and matrimonial columns you name it, all seem to show that only light-skinned men and women can achieve success in the world. Aren’t we fed each day through advertisements that the fairer a woman’s skin, the more likely she is to find a job, a husband or happiness? And I cannot forget the irony - all this in a country whose population is far more likely to be dark-skinned. As necessary protection against the harsh UV rays from the Sun that come with living closer to the equator.

Colourism has been barely spoken of in South Asian circles around the world and in the Indian sub-continent, despite the trauma men and women face in its wake.

Who can forget the Netflix reality series Indian Matchmaking which sparked a huge debate after its protagonist, a globe-trotting Indian matchmaker, hunted for potential spouses for her hyper judging clients, put fair-skinned women and men on a pedestal, advocating their complexion as an evidently desirable feature to possess.

Stills from Bridgerton season 1 and 2

 Why is brown not beautiful?

If we look back at history, a lot of communities have held ‘blackness’ or ‘brownness’ as a bad thing and there are lots of implications for people who have darker skin tones as being ‘dirty’ or ‘less educated’ than people have culturally communicated across time and borders.

While within our sub-continent, this has a long history and can be tied up to the caste system and social hierarchies. It is a general perception that if you are light-skinned then most probably you are from the higher castes and people who carried out menial work were mostly dark (as they worked in the Sun) hence were considered ‘dirty’.

But thankfully over time, there has been a shift – all thanks to social media campaigns like ‘Dark is Beautiful’ and ‘Brown is Beautiful’. Due to such campaigns, there is a space now for dark-skinned people of the Indian sub-continent to talk about their shared experiences, break the silence and even alter the dialogue on colourism.

What is heartening is that many of these people belong to younger generations that are starting to realise the generational gap in the debate surrounding racism and colourism. And so instead of internalising these values, they are looking to reject them.

Ashley Simone as Kate Sharma and shows like Bridgerton may just be the way forward.

The views expressed are the author's own.