lunchtime poll #6: bad hair day

Another Guide-inspired thing that makes you go hmmm: have you ever been distracted from a film or performance by a star's hair, as I was by Dev's in Guide when he was supposed to be suffering spiritually but looked like he had been sleeping on orange juice cans? Off the top of my head, I'm thinking of Rishi Kapoor's fluffy top in Doosra Aadmi,

Manoj Kumar's high-rise architecture in Roti Kapada aur Makaan,

and Bobby Deol's shaggy poodle thing in Jhoom Barabar Jhoom.


Write in with your favorite egregious examples!

This doesn't have to be a bad thing, aesthetically. Many, many are the times I have had to pause to bask in the glory of Shashi Kapoor's Shashilicious waves and curls.



(Aside to Bobby's stylist: this is how you do curls, okay?)

(This is a bad picture, but I like how Rakhee is petting his hair. Totally understandable.)
And Abhishek's headband, which, inexplicably, I love - and I think suited oddball, too-cool-for-school Rikki perfectly.

(It's all just a matter of taste, of course...."Women Prefer Men with Stubble")

I'm surprised no female stars/roles have popped into my mind yet, and I'm beginning to think I must just plain ol' love a vast majority of the hairstyles I see on women in the movies, some 80s and 90s missteps notwithstanding (which is why I'll give Saif Ali Khan's mullet in Main Khiladi Tu Anari a pass). Even when they change as often as the outfits, like Rakhee's in Sharmeelee (to be fair, it's a dual role) - the more, the merrier!



Here's the more substantial question, though: is it generally right to assume that most filmmakers would rather the physical look of the actors add to, rather than draw attention from, the overall production? That doesn't mean costume and hair and makeup must always be only subordinate to the plot, tone, general style, etc. (for example, Teesri Manzil would not be so super fab without the overall fashions) - but everything needs to work together, doesn't it?

Comments

Lovin' the lunchtime polls!

Insta-reactions:
- agreed that Rishi's hair is almost always horrible; that "almost" is pronounced "Amar Akbar Anthony", in which Rishi becomes mega-cool
- I was actually much more distracted by Manoj's Austin Powers-esque carpet of chest hair in RKM
- Awww, I love Bobby's hair. Sausage curls! Doll curls!
- Shashi can do no wrong. What's top right from?
- Rakhee's beehive in Sharmeelee is one of my favorite looks EVER!

I'm going to shamelessly plug my latest review, since it's a rare movie where an actor's look - in this case, the length of Shashi's curls - is directly related to the plot. Short curls, happy. Long curls, sad. Easy!

I think an actor's ability to change his look for a film is fundamental; hence why I'm so frustrated that SRK won't even part his hair on the other freakin' side once in a while, and hence why I'm so pleased that Saif went all yellow-toothed and ugly in Omkara.

Another thing: I haven't seen much Akshay, but he's always seemed to me a dual persona: there's nerdy, glasses+mullet Akshay of Dil To Pagal Hai or Welcome, and then there's bad-ass, sunglasses, crew cut Akshay of Tashan and Om Shanti Om cameos. I can barely reconcile the two as the same guy!
Filmi Girl said…
PPPC: AKSHAY = always changing his look! You should watch "Jaan-e-Mann" if you haven't seen it yet for some classic nerdy Akshay. It's amazing how convincing he is as a nerd when you also consider how hot he is. Is it warm in here or just me?

I'm going to offer up Amitabh's hideous hair from recent years. It looks like a bad toupe and one of the reasons I found his performance in Eklavya so refreshing was his turban! It hid his hair!

Also, Akshaye Khanna's attempts to hide his balding are terrible!
For those who are interested, there are a few other lunchtime polls (does anyone else get why I cal them that, or am I just tossing a very fine reference into the void?) scattered throughout the site and all can be found with the search box. Or I can link to them, if people want. They don't usually get as many responses as #5!

Anyway.

PPCC - Top right Shashi is from Fakira. Rakhee can pretty much do no wrong in my style book - I haven't seen her in a ton of things, but all my memories are pleasant.

It's about time someone used Shashi's hair as a symbol or a key to understanding the story/character! Can't wait to see it.

Agreed re: looks. SRK's beard was very effective in Chak De, I thought.

Filmi Girl - I loooove Akshay's looks too. He (and the people who style him) are good at that. He's most definitely the best thing in Jaan-e-Mann.

How did I forget Amitabh's two-tone thing? Ack!

And for Akshaye, yeah, I have no idea what most of those were about. Sigh.
Anonymous said…
Bad hair=Rajesh Khanna in every film he ever made. I think it's a major reason why I can't really warm up to him much.
Bollyviewer said…
So many bad-haired guys... Rakesh Roshan's terrible toupee, for e.g., but he still looked cool inspite of it! Then there was Pran who probably holds the record for maximum number of bad hair-wigs. He is darn good inspite of that!

The females seem to do much better in the hair department. But there are some spectacular exceptions - Preity Zinta in Armaan and Radhika in Naseeb Apna Apna (the lady has a plait that stands horizontally straight much to the discomfort of her stage hubby Rishi Kapoor)
ajnabi said…
I have to agree with you, Beth, about Bobby's JBJ hairstyle. Sooo weird, I almost couldn't get past it. I kept on saying to myself, "But see, he's British--maybe hot British guys have hair like that and I just didn't know." LOL
Kanan said…
Aah love Shashi's culrs any day.

Have you seen Anil Kapoor's in Woh Saat Din? If not, do check it out.

Thank you for such a fun post. :D
Unknown said…
Rani Mukherjee's hairstyle in the first half of Tara Rum Pum Pum - awful!
Unknown said…
No mention of Hema Malini's permanent bad hair days brought about by her wigs?

She can't be blamed really - she had a terrible complex about her high forehead (which she has recently embraced to great effect) and bad wig making techniques back in the day.
Anarchivist said…
"Heathers," baby!!

Now, that's some bad hair. Yikes.

Anyway, I'm glad I'm not alone in my Akshay-confusion. I've seen him in exactly two movies, "Om Shanti Om" and "Bhool Bhulaiyaa," and by the end of the latter, I was going, who is this guy? Goofy nerd action star? What an odd niche...

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