"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character... I have a dream" - These were some of the lines quoted by famous American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. in his iconic speech at the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963.

These lines hold relevance today in a society where skin-lightening is still a thing and people have to trend hashtags like #BlackLivesMatter to call out the prejudices based on race and skin-complexion. But did you know that even before Martin Luther King's 'I have a dream' speech, a Tamil movie released exactly 57 years ago today that highlighted the every-day struggle of people with dark-skin. 

An adaptation of Sri Shailash Dey's Bengali play Bodhu, Naanum Oru Penn known to the Tamil audience today as the movie that gave us the famous P. Sushhela song 'Kanna Karumai Nira Kanna', showed a dark-skinned girl fighting her way through a social construct which judged a person based on their physical appearance rather than their character.

Naanum Oru Penn, released on June 6, 1963 had won the National Film Award for Best Feature and had addressed a subject which sadly even today has to be trended as a global movement, to bring attention to the cruel practices associated with one's skin-colour.