Bollywood hairstylists arm-twist producers to increase entourage costs by 3 times: Aalim Hakim asks, ‘How are you contributing…’

In the interview to Hindi Rush, he added, “This soils the reputation of the actor and of other technicians. I always advise them to be professional and maintain their fees.” Hakim argued that a hairstylist’s fees should remain constant despite the market value of the actor they’re working with.

“What does a technician have to do with a film becoming a superhit? They’ve just cut the actor’s hair. The actor has given a good performance, the director has made a good film, which is why the film becomes a hit. Their actor scoring a Rs 500 crore film shouldn’t increase the hairstylist’s fees just because the actor has become comfortable with them,” said Hakim.

He advised other hairstylists to be production-friendly as the hike in fees they often demand for themselves can instead be used to make a whole new film. “If I charge Rs 1 lakh for a haircut, that’s my fees. It’s not like I charge someone Rs 1 lakh and someone else Rs 2 lakh or Rs 5 lakh,” argued Hakim, adding, “A production house is prepared, they know how much they’d spend if they call me. It doesn’t depend on whether my last film was a hit or not.”

Hakim claimed that friendship, respect, and value are more important to him than money. “If you arm-twist someone, they’d work with you once, but not again. They wouldn’t respect you. If a lot of them don’t work with you because you’re greedy and a liar, then you’d be out of the industry,” said Hakim.

He clarified that his fees of Rs 1 lakh per haircut remains the same for celebrities and commoners. “No one is a celebrity or a commoner to me. They’re all my clients irrespective of their stature,” said Hakim. He admitted he’s not charged some friends for his work, but not when he’s working professionally for friends who are producers and are earning money from their projects.

“Whether I charge Rs 5 or Rs 5 lakh for a haircut, I’d cut the hair in the same way. If you ask Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan or Naseeruddin Shah to do acting worth Rs 5, they’d do the same acting. What’s a Rs 5 acting? Art doesn’t function like that. I just spend some water in my spray, which doesn’t have a cost. It’s the art that’s priceless,” argued Hakim.

Also Read — ‘Hrithik Roshan and Kapil Sharma don’t wear wigs or patches; their hair is absolutely real’: Celebrity hairstylist Aalim Hakim

“If I increase my fees from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh, I know they’d pay me. But I believe in repeat value. I want to work everyday and for everyone,” said Hakim, adding, “Technically, Rs 1 lakh is quite affordable for everyone otherwise why would they be spending it on me so far?”