BOLLYWOOD'S UNFORGETTABLE HAIRSTYLES

By Sharlene Lobo for Enlighten India BLog - May 11, 2017

BOLLYWOOD'S UNFORGETTABLE HAIRSTYLES

Hollywood red carpet and their weird hairdos are a twentieth century phenomenon. Classic hairstyles alongside the crazy ones have never failed to attract all the buzz and paparazzi. Let’s take you to the world of Bollywood where numerous hairstyles were experimented and reinvented. From indigenous plaits to the English curls; some managed to create a trademark while the rest unfortunately missed it.

      The Sadhna Cut - The bewitchingly gorgeous yesteryear actress with a broad forehead had all the young eyes turn towards her fashionable fringe back in the day. Famously known as the ‘Sadhna Haircut’, her fringe created a spark that spelled magic. It was the significant rendition of R.K. Nayyar, who inspired by Audrey Hepburn’s hairstyle, gave this look to the eternal beauty in her 1960’s romantic venture Love in Simla. The haircut remains a classic till date.

    The role of Chandu, in Naseeb Apna Apna, a simple village girl who migrates to Bombay to live with her husband, was flawlessly characterized by the south Indian actor Radhika Sarathkumar. Besides her perfect comic timing, it was her indo-western attire and that unseemly monstrous hairstyle that left the audience amused to the bones. Girl, this is one hairstyle Gaga will surely be impressed with!

It was our very own Dhak Dhak girl who introduced the western style brown side-line permed hair in Bollywood. This look oscillates anywhere between being formal and going casual. The perfectly permed up curls defined what it took to be a woman. Her ravishing curls and accentuated features, in movies like Dil, Tezaab and Hum Aapke Hai Kaun, won the hearts of several Indians. 

       From that perfectly maintained hair in the 80’s to the girl-next-door avatar in the 90’s, this decade was indeed an era of change and transformation. The 90’s saw Bollywood advancing into the world of pop music and colourful denims. Karisma Kapoor, Raveena Tandon, Juhi Chawla and Urmila Matondkar took pride in flaunting those messy voluminous curls; while they ran their hair bounced with the wind. Although the same style today would look scary and unmanageable, hats off to these women who pulled off this tropical look with great ease.

      The new millennium not only saw the women in stylish looks but the men donned a new avatar too. The one man who has certainly managed to charm his audience with that extra hair wavering on his head is none other than the Badshah himself, Shahrukh Khan. From that quivering style in Dilwale Dhulaniya Le Jaayenge and the leather hairband in Josh to Michael Jackson’s braided plaits in Don 2 to that sexy pony in Happy New Year, King Khan’s unique hairstyles have always been lovable. 

     While talking about cult hairstyles, it’s definitely hard to miss on Salman’s ravaging hairstyle in Tere Naam. Well, it wasn’t Salman Khan alone but John Abraham and MS Dhoni too sported the earthy look in the early 2000’s influencing countless youngsters. I wonder if they were ever inspired by the late president Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam?

      The ill-fated tragic hero of Gajini, Mr. Perfectionist Aamir Khan, saw to it that everything in his movie ended tragically including his hairstyle. How beautifully does that clean demarcation on his head separate the west from the east!

        Have you heard of the Barkha hairstyle? What makes it more bizarre is the copyright that the journalist herself owns. It’s had its stereotypical impact on the characters in Bollywood associated with journalism. If Preity Zinta in Lakshya pulled it off with extreme grace then Anushka Sharma with the same haircut played Aamir Khan’s perfect twin in PK; but here’s the shocker, Saif Ali Khan trying to ape the same hairstyle…uhh…I wonder what was on his head then!