From Frantz Fanon, via Edward Said, to Stuart Hall and Paul Gilroy, we have learnt how, in instances of encounters between people of different national, ethnic and racial provenances, skin colour has been held up as a conspicuous marker of culture (or thereby lack of), as well as a parameter for measuring vice and virtue. There are, however, shades of difference among the people who thrive within this hierarchical arrangement of skin colour. These debates are analysed by looking at Indian popular culture, especially Hindi cinema.
