Sumbul Touqeer of Imlie fame recently spoke at length about getting trolled for her dark skin tone and how she deals with negative comments on social media.
Sumbul Touqeer became a household name with Star Plus’ popular TV show, Imlie. Her popularity skyrocketed further when she recently participated in the reality show, Bigg Boss 16. But like every celebrity, the young girl also has had to face the downside of fame.
In a recent interview with ETimes, the Article 15 actress opened up on dealing with negative comments on her skin tone.
Looking back at her early days, Sumbul recalled, “I started as a child actor and whenever I went for auditions, they only wanted fair skinned actors,” adding that she felt very demeaned and insulted by it. In fact, there was a time when she started believing that she can’t be a lead heroine because of her dark skin tone. However, that stereotype changed when she bagged Imlie.
Sumbul told the tabloid, “When I bagged Imlie also, things didn’t change instantly. People would call up and say, “Arre kaisi ladki ko cast kar liya, kaali hai.” I had felt very bad that day and I had cried a lot but after the telecast things started to change. Our opening TRP numbers were 2.2 and the number just went up from there. It never came down till the time I was a part of it. People forgot how I looked; they just noticed my work. The people who disliked me also started praising me. I feel this is all based on convenience.”
The actress admitted that initially, she was very scared about the trolls, but now, she is confident about herself.
“I don’t think there is any need for people to accept you. In today’s times, a lot of young girls and boys are insecure about the way they look. They are very under confident about the way they look. Even today, I receive hate comments from people who don’t like me. But it doesn’t change anything about me and I feel everyone should become like this. These comments should not bother you at all, you should not get affected. Just be happy in life and keep your confidence up,” the Ishaaron Ishaaron Mein actress told the daily.
Sumbul further said that she feels people misuse social media and added that they would stop putting other men or women down, the day the platform starts charging money.
“They troll me for my complexion. I feel they don’t have anything to do. I love the way I am and it doesn’t bother me and I don’t care or feel bad. But when they mock or troll others, I feel bad and angry,” the actress was quoted as saying.
Workwise, Sumbul recently made an appearance in Disney+ Hotstar’s romantic drama series, Dear Ishq starring Shehban Azim and Niyati Fatnani.
