Puducherry: The model out to smash India’s fair-skin obsession

“Talent has nothing to do with skin colour.”

Indian model San Rechal is on a mission – to dispel the notion that dark-skinned people can’t be considered beautiful.

The 23-year-old, from the southern city of Puducherry, says that the beauty industry often discriminates against people like her – not surprising in India, where those with a darker skin tone often face prejudice.

That’s why Ms Rechal speaks openly about being mocked as a child for her skin colour, and the psychological impact of these taunts and beauty stereotypes.

Shot by Natarajan Sundar for BBC Tamil; edited by Piyush Nagpal