Indian Matchmaking season two spoilers follow.
Sima Taparia – or Sima Aunty as she's more respectfully known – is back on our screens for a second season of Indian Matchmaking.
The eight new episodes see a fresh set of singles turn to Sima in the hopes of finding love, including Arshneel Kochar (whose mum thought LinkedIn was a dating site) and the independent Viral Joshi, who set up a first date in a furniture store.
There are some familiar faces in the mix too, including last season's Nadia Jagessar, the unforgettable Aparna Shewakramani and Mumbai bachelor Pradhyuman Maloo, who once boasted that he'd rejected 150 girls.
The format of the show is the same as we've come to expect – Sima meets prospective clients along with their families, taking in their long lists of desires for a suitable partner. The women ask for tall, self-made, financially stable men who can "talk science-y" and don't smoke or party. The men request independent women with a "good education" who want children and who like dogs… or chickens.
One thing thankfully absent from this series is the request for "fair" skin and women who aren't "too dark."
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Throughout season one, these harmful and colourist remarks were frequently and casually shared by both single suitors and matchmaker Sima. Women were also requested to be "slim and trim" (the very first episode of the show is called "Slim, Trim and Educated") and not too tall, while women were told to be ready to compromise for their potential future husbands.
Colourism is a huge problem in South Asian culture, where lighter skin is prized as more beautiful and attractive, particularly in women. The issue, like many things, is rooted in racism – while India was colonised by the British, the ruling classes and other rich European visitors were white. White, light skin became a symbol of prosperity and power, and those associations have stuck for Indians today.
Families looking for matches for their children often reject prospects based on their skin tone. Just look at Asian marriage website Shaadi.com, whose users were able to filter matches by skin tone up until 2020. This discrimination isn’t just romantic – those with fairer skin also see benefits throughout their careers and in terms of their social status.
It's therefore no surprise that over £600 million worth of skin lightening creams were shifted from Indian shelves in 2019. Campaigns for these products have been fronted by huge Bollywood names like Priyanka Chopra and Shah Rukh Khan, but Chopra has since expressed regret over her endorsement.
As for Khan, the superstar gave a convoluted answer on the topic to The Guardian in 2016. Questioned about being the face of skincare brand Fair and Handsome, Khan claimed that he didn't personally use the product, that he wasn't "selling fairness being better" and that he wouldn't endorse women using these creams and washes.
While the tide appears to be turning when it comes to skin lightening, it's difficult for attitudes to truly change when hugely popular Netflix series peddle these same damaging stereotypes.
Entertainment has the power to shift mindsets, so it was disappointing that Indian Matchmaking season one aired these views unchallenged. Without any context or surrounding conversation, the show could be said to be presenting colourism as a normal and non-problematic aspect of Indian society.
After considerable backlash on social media from viewers of the show, Indian Matchmaking season two avoids all mention of skin colour and size. It's hard to say whether that's evidence of a more progressive mindset or simply an editing decision to avoid further controversy – after all, this is a reality show and arguably represents typical South Asian opinions and experiences. It's unlikely for attitudes to change so markedly in two short years.
Executive producer Smriti Mundhra addressed the issue in a 2021 interview. Mundhra called the conversation "important and welcomed," admitting that "no one said it's inaccurate".
Instead, she credits the show for bringing "people who were not having that conversation into that conversation. When mothers and daughters and grandparents and siblings are all sitting around the table and talking about things like colourism and classism and sexism and patriarchy. That's a win for me."
Indian Matchmaking certainly sparked conversation, but the second series fails to tackle the issue of colourism in any meaningful way. There were no statements from the show, Sima or the rest of the cast, which could have served to publicly take a stand against colourism and address the pitfalls of season one. However, excluding these comments from new episodes is certainly a step in the right direction.
Indian Matchmaking isn't perfect – the show still focuses on physical attributes, family backgrounds, education and career successes, sometimes at the expense of personality – but it does have some plus points.
While arranged marriages can be a controversial topic, the series goes some way to showing that there's a big difference between 'arranged' and 'forced.' Considering the show was also initially rejected for not being white enough, it's pleasing to see greater South Asian representation on screen.
Still, none of that means that Sima Aunty gets a free pass – Indian Matchmaking has a long way to go before it can be considered truly inclusive.
Indian Matchmaking is now available to watch on Netflix.
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Isabella is a freelance journalist who has written on young women's issues, entertainment, TV and film, South Asian representation, mental health, dating and so much more. She has bylines in ELLE, Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, Prima, Digital Spy, Women's Health, and Harper's Bazaar, and was named 30 Under 30 by MediaWeek, PPA and We Are The City. She was also shortlisted for Workplace Hero at the Investing In Ethnicity Awards and Hero of the Year at the European Diversity Awards. Follow Isabella on Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.
