“The ad world is completely racist,” thunders, model Noyonika Chatterjee, (who ruled the Indian ramp especially in the 1990s), when asked whether she ever faced bias in the Indian advertising fraternity because of her dark-skinned complexion.

This isn’t just Chatterjee’s story; many dusky models in India who displayed oodles of talent, beauty and charisma while on the ramp, weren’t able to make it big in the ad space, and most feel that it’s because of the colour of their skin.