Mammootty's 'Black-White' Remark Called Out: Twitter Users Say 'Racism Is Deeply Rooted'

In a video clip, which has been circulating online, Mammootty is seen casually joking with his co-star Aishwarya about his skin colour.

New Delhi: South superstar Mammootty has been called out for a casual remark which he made during a promotional event. Mammootty's latest Malayalam film 'Christopher' hit theatres on Thursday and the incident occurred during the promotional interview for 'Chrsitopher' in which Mammotty plays the role of a vigilante cop.

In a video clip, which has been circulating online, Mammootty is seen casually joking with his co-star Aishwarya about his skin colour. He asks her to call him 'white' sugar instead of addressing him as jaggery which is made of 'black' karipetti.

A user shared a clip of this episode featuring Mammootty on Twitter and wrote alongside it, "Colourism in our society is so deep-rooted and normalized. In this clip, #Mammootty can be seen casually cracking such colourist jokes. Most of his supporters may think it's harmless, but something like this shouldn't be normal, especially coming from someone like Mammootty."

 

Soon after the video was shared, many in the comments section called out Mammooty's problematic behaviour while  a section also defended him.

A user wrote in the comments thread of this clip, "Racism is deeply rooted among the people as well. That's the reason you rarely find dark skinned heroes, especially heroines.” “Especially someone, who's often associated with the word 'updation'," added another one. Someone else wrote, “True fact. Basically the whole Kerala society is racist. They do not prefer people with dark skin. Sad state of educated Keralites."

Meanwhile, 'Christopher' has been directed by B. Unnikrishnan. Besides Mammootty, it also stars Sneha, Shine Tom Chacko and Amala Paul in key roles.

Besides this, Mammootty was recently seen in Malayalam psychological drama 'Rorschach' in which he portrayed the role of Luke Anthony, an NRI businessman who avenges the death of his pregnant wife. 'Rorschach' was appreciated by audiences and critics alike and grossed over Rs. 75 crores worldwide. Before this, Mammootty was also a part of 'Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam', which was very well received at the box-office.