Star stylist’s shear magic

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He is that “Edward scissor-hands” whose snips and trims work magic. Celeb tresses form his creative canvas for trendsetting cuts and styles. Aalim Hakim is a sought-after name in glitterati circles with Bollywood biggies gracing his client list. From dreamboat Ranbir Kapoor to macho Ajay Devgn, heartthrob Hrithik Roshan to natty Saif Ali Khan, hairstylist Hakim has every other A-lister from B-town on the hot-seat of his high-profile salon. Of course, the suave and charming Shahid Kapur is a dear favourite.

To offer a closer insight into his hair-clipping elements and style, Aalim makes a foray in tellyland with his debut show, Style Inc. With Aalim Hakim. A 5-part series, this show on Discovery’s TLC channel is a blend of celebrity styling and hairstyle trends.
Aalim considers his father — acclaimed hairstylist Halim Kairanvi from yesteryears — as his foremost guru, although he never had the good fortune to learn the ropes under his tutelage. “Being my dad’s son obviously makes me feel proud, especially when people still ape and flaunt the trademark mops, chin-straps and sideburns he fashioned for the great cine stalwarts like Dilip Kumar, Sunil Dutt, Amitabh Bachchan, Vinod Khanna, et al. All of those signature styles have attained a cult status over the years and are here to stay forever,” reflects a nostalgic Aalim.
Walking down memory lane, he recollects with a smile, “In my teens, I started styling my friends just for a lark as a novice, and by the time I joined college, I was pretty confident about my fingers’ speedy moves, balance and control. I had found my true calling.”
To polish his skills further, this man with a blower, drier, curler and a comb underwent a formal training in Malaysia followed with a short stint in Austria where he assisted a hair-stylist. “While working in Austria, I learnt everything from styling, cutting to all that is broadly related to a salon job,” he says about his schooling phase.
While his illustrious clientele includes the rich and the famous, Aalim enumerates on style quotient of some of them. Topping the catalogue is Ranbir ‘Barfi’ Kapoor. “He is a very chilled out guy who is open to experiments of all sizes and shapes. In the movie Rockstar, he had eight different styles, thus showcasing different phases of Jordan’s life, the stellar kirdaar he portrayed in the flick. Saif (Ali Khan) again is very meticulous about the look he endorses and is fashionably tuned in. So one can’t afford to mess with his style. He is a true Nawab by nature. I would say both Saif and Shahid possess the best hair in business,” he opines.
And talking about his wish-list, the stylist declares, “I would love to style Rahul Gandhi someday.”
With a yen for teaching, this master stylist has plans to open a hairstyling academy sometime in the near future.