Alia Bhatt's hair stylist Amit Thakur reveals 2 reasons why all young stars in Bollywood ‘look the same’

Bollywood hair game is now following a same template of sleek and straightened hair, devoid of any natural curls or texture. Celebrity hair stylist reveals.

Hair is an expressive medium that effortlessly channels an individuality. Whether it's the way it falls or its natural texture, hair can be distinctive. But slowly, this once-unique form of self-expression is falling into a template. More and more hair looks have the same sleek, straightened style that iron out any unique hair texture.

Amit Thakur working with Alia Bhatt for a recent event.

In a BBC Asian Network interview, celebrity hair stylist Amit Thakur opened up about the noticeable shift towards sleek, straight hair, explaining the reason behind it. Amit Thakur styled many A-listers, like Nita Ambani and Alia Bhatt. 

Since people look up to celebrities for style inspiration, this sameness in hair styling has trickled down into everyday life as well. This, however, stands in stark contrast to the 90s-2000s time when Bollywood actors were seen in a wide variety of hair textures, confidently sporting even the natural, wavy and frizzy locks.

Amit Thakur revealed what might be driving this apathy towards natural hair textures and the reluctance to embrace them.

Following the trendsetters on social media

Amit said, “I feel like it's [hairstyle] heavily influenced by the Kardashians and Hailey Bieber and all of these girls. I think a lot of our younger girls are influenced by that sort of aesthetic. I think they are also their fans. The uniqueness in Bollywood was that it has its own distinct style and if Bollywood is trying to emulate what the Kardashians are doing, where is the originality from her? A lot of younger people when they look at celebrities following these kinds of trends, they somehow copy paste the whole thing, which is a little sad…”

Social media trendsetters like Hailey Bieber and the Kardashians style their hair in a very hyper-polished and controlled manner, picture-perfect for the filtered and glossy landscape of social media. This approach, however, doesn’t just apply to sleek, straight hair; even their curls are meticulously styled, changing the natural texture.

Their looks fall into highly curated aesthetics, whether it’s the clean girl aesthetic, model-off-duty vibe, or old money elegance with perfectly polished blowouts. Even the natural looks come with their quiet touch-ups that ensure all the strands and curls are immaculately in place with heat and curlers.

Convenience

Amit Thakur reminded that Indians have some of the best quality hair after Brazilians, suggesting that the wide variety of hair types and textures in India, all equally beautiful and luscious. Beyond the celebrity trend chase, another reason why hyper-stylised, sleek hair is becoming mainstream is convenience, combined with a lack of proper care for natural hair textures.

He said, “Even for hair, I feel like India is full of people with thick, curly, beautiful, luscious hair. But here, I don't see many people embracing their hair texture. They are all wanting to straighten their hair out, not have those curls and beautiful textures, they don't know how to embrace it and also it's easier for them to just pick up a flat iron and make it straight just like another Hollywood celebrity.”