The journey of Johny Lever : Your skin tone may change with your circumstances

One day, I happened to watch an adorable performance of Johny Lever. It was a you tube video of a live non film show, and since I was already on the net, I started searching more about him. 

Here it goes. Johny Lever was born as John Rao in a poor family hailing from Andhra Pradesh, and financial conditions forced him to follow his father as a labour in Hindustan Lever at Mumbai.

It is said that in one function in his factory, John Rao was caught mimicking two of his senior officers and he was so good at it that the two senior officers also praised him, and gave him his new name Johny Lever. Thereafter, his mimicry act in such gatherings became a routine. 

Later, Johny Lever left his job in 1981 and started looking for work in movies. At the same time, Tabassum, well known for her TV show "Phool Khile Hain Gushan Gulshan" was planning to launch her son Hoshang Govil in films. Her husband Vijay Govil is brother of Arun Govil (who played Ram in tv serial Ramayana). Johny Lever got a chance to work in her film, “Tum Par Hum Qurban”, but the film got delayed and it was released in 1985.

Meanwhile, Johny made his debut in 1981, in a minor role in a multi starer, “Yeh Rishta Na Tootey”. The rest, as they say, is ‘history’. Interestingly, while I was reading about him, I noticed that in his photographs, posted along side the write ups, the skin tone and complexion too kept changing. I decided to collect the photographs in sequence and please watch here how Johny Lever has grown over the years - from a dark skinned young man of 1980s to a much fairer looking 59 years old senior gentleman in 2016.

Also, please watch the video at the end - Johny Lever in The Kapil Sharma Show on Sony TV.

Johny Lever is a good example of how a poor dark skinned man may change over the years because of better work conditions, and with improved financial status. This is also applicable to stalwarts like Irfan Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and it reflects on their faces. If we compare Irfan Khan of tv serial Shrikant (1987) or Nawazuddin of Sarfarosh with their latest films, the difference is clear.

A move from factory floors to film studios, from dark slums to luxurious homes, from poverty to prosperity, can definitely change the skin tone. I may add that talent and hard work are and would always remain the basic requirements for success. Yes, luck matters but it is also true that God favours the brave (talent + hard work = good luck + success).