India's own Rihanna is setting the internet on fire. Who is she?

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Renee Kujur looks like pop-star Rihanna. Photo: Instagram

Renee Kujur has had the misfortune of being born in a country obsessed with fair skin. In fact, this obsession spares no one, not even children.

When Renee Kujur was three, she participated in a fancy dress competition in her school, dressed as a fairy. As soon as she came on the stage, someone shouted, "Dekho dekho kaali pari" (look, a black fairy) and the auditorium shook with laughter. Renee left the stage sobbing.

It's been 20 years since that incident, and Renee has realised, says to herself, "Kuch pariyan kaali bhi hoti hain"(some fairies are black, too).

Renee looks exactly like 'Bad Gilrl Riri' or Rihanna. In fact, Renee's Instagram account has been modelled after the famous singer--badgirlrene.

The 23-year-old hails from Bagicha, Chhattisgarh, and entered the world of modelling a few years ago. Rejection became a constant in her life due to her dusky colour, and she was even asked to sleep around to get work.

Renee told a daily, "They told me all models are into prostitution. I won't become a model unless I pleased clients. Being dark had already killed my chances," recalls the model.

Photographers would tell makeup artists to make her 3-4 tones lighter and heavily photoshop her pictures. One make-up artist said,"Sundar ladki ka makeup toh koi bhi kar sakta hai"(anyone can do the make-up of a pretty girl). After doing Renee's make-up he announced publicly, "The real challenge is to make a dark girl look good and I have done it,"

It was a friend who pointed out that Renee looked a lot like Oceans'8 star Rihanna.

"I laughed off the Rihanna part. But soon everyone was saying the same thing."

It made it easier for her to get work. Now, people could no longer claim that Renee was ugly, because Rihanna is considered beautiful. It worked in Renee's favour.

Things have not changed completely, and modelling agencies still want women with lighter skin. But Renee is hopeful of change.

The young model is grateful to Rihanna for having challenged notions of Western beauty, and providing her with the impetus of challenging the ones in India.