Hair Play

SALMAN KHAN sported a spiky blond tip for his first music video Honey Honey, Sanjay Dutt an Antonio Banderas look for Rudraksh and Mahesh Ma...

SALMAN KHAN sported a spiky blond tip for his first music video Honey Honey, Sanjay Dutt an Antonio Banderas look for Rudraksh and Mahesh Manjrekar a wild head of hair for his new comedy Padmashree Laloo Prasad Yadav. But the man who delivers the macho mien to our heroes is the soft-spoken Aalim Hakim, armed with his satchel of expensive German-made scissors.

Aalim always fiddled with star hair, but since styling Sanjay8217;s cut for Ishq Samundar in Kaante and Ajay Devgan8217;s strands for Bhoot and Qayamat, he is Bollywood8217;s behind-the-scenes hero. Suniel Shetty in Rudraksh, Sanjay in Rudraksh, Plan and the Pathan appearance in Deewar, Salman8217;s new floppy for Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, Ajay in Khakee, Fardeen Khan in No Entry and the new Provogue ad, Saif Ali Khan in Ek Hasina Thi and a Pepsi blue tinge for the new commercial, Anil Kapoor in Allwyn Kalicharan8230;phew! Aalim obviously spends his days running his fingers through hero hair.

8220;The first star that I cut hair for was Vivek Oberoi. We8217;re FYJC first year junior college friends and used to act in plays together. Now I do his hair all the time,8221; he says, in his soft blue-lit saloon Hakim8217;s Aalim in Mumbai suburb Andheri.

A customer has just walked in and wants to look like a new woman. Aalim silently circles her, cutting her thick swathe into feathery layers, addressing short sentences to her. 8220;So far, the only actress8217; hair I8217;ve been cutting for the past two years is Kajol8212;that short look. Actors come to me telling me that their hair is scanty; that they want it to look like a bouquet of hair,8221; he smiles. Suniel Shetty adds, 8220;We8217;re always joking that as 90 per cent of the actors are bald, he has something to play with in my hair. Aalim looks into your eyebrows and moustache too. He8217;s very creative and a good soul.8221;

Some of Aalim8217;s talent is inherited. His father Hakim was hairdresser for the likes of Dilip Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan and Sunil Dutt. But he also puts it down to an 8220;affection towards fashion8221;. He 8220;interferes8221; in their clothes, goes shopping with them and endlessly questions them on the characters. It helps him do the homework8212;adding different styles on their computer images until he zeroes in on one. Then with his Jaguar scissors that cost Rs 10,000 a piece, he8217;s ready to snip. Sisters Tehzeeb and Taheer who offers expert opinion on colours help him run the business.

Aalim is just back from South Africa where he turned the mops of Mahesh Manjrekar, Johnny Lever, Suniel Shetty and Gulshan Grover into outlandish modes. Says Mahesh, 8220;It8217;s a fun film and I wanted two looks. This KL Saigal type with a big French beard. Then the girl transforms him to a whacked-out look. Aalim gives ten options, sometimes one you never dreamt of.8221;

nbsp;	According to Aalim

		nbsp;	8226; Lovely thick mane: Suniel Shetty 8226; Softest: Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgan, Salman Khan 8226; Poker-straight: Vivek Oberoi 8226; Curliest: Manoj Bajpai 8226; Coolest: Saif Ali Khan and Fardeen Khan 8226; The only guys to carry off bald: Salman seen that!, Sanjay and Akshay Kumar	nbsp;

For Aalim, the strangest cuts he8217;s given are to students8212;red leopard prints, zebra and zig-zag. He confesses that the rare times he8217;s muddled up, only the actor and he share the secret.

The hair stylist is now looking at expanding to Hyderabad, though he spends about 20 days a month with stars. He takes his assistants to the sets at times and on rare occasions, to a star8217;s house late at night. 8220;Your hair changes your whole personality, makes you vibe with the audience. It8217;s all about packaging,8221; he states.