A Lucrative Promise for India's Men: Whiter Skin
Lightening creams, popular with the nation’s women, now target guys
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In some respects, India resembles any developed market, from the high-rises of Mumbai to the ubiquitous cell phones seen in remote villages. But modernization hasn’t eliminated age-old beliefs linking fair skin to a higher caste and superior lineage. In a recent television ad for personal-care product maker Emami’s Fair and Handsome skin-lightening cream, Bollywood idol Shah Rukh Khan suggests the cream helped his film career.