Bridgerton’s celebration of ‘brown women’ beats Bollywood, say delighted South Asians

By bringing more colour to its female characters, Netflix’s Bridgerton has secured a head start on Bollywood. While India’s Hindi-language film industry dallies about casting a dark-skinned actress in a lead romantic role – Will audiences accept her? Exactly how dark should her skin be? Will she be seen as desirable? – the second season of the popular show has stolen a march by casting two actresses of South Asian descent in lead roles, and a third in a supporting role. For millions of women in…