She found she had curly hair only when she became a hairdresser but almost always knew that hair was her calling. t2 caught up with celebrity hairstylist Avan Contractor, co-founder and creative director of BBLUNT, on her love for the mane and a glittering Bollywood innings featuring films like Dil Chahta Hai and Dangal.
Congratulations for a superb body of work.... Any memories of your first client?
I don’t remember that but (actor) Sharman Joshi is my oldest client. He used to come to the salon I was working at and then to my house… both he and his to-be wife used to come to my house. I think he was just out of college and was doing theatre.
How did Bollywood happen to you?
Films happened to me by chance. When Farhan (Akhtar) was making Dil Chahta Hai, he said he wanted to change the way these guys are looking. They should look like city boys who are out of college. Aamir (Khan) was the first actor who came in. I shared some references after reading the script, and it was such an urban film and we did what we do for our clients… doing a consultation and understanding what the need was, understanding the character. I had never done a film in my life until then.
Aamir was the one who said, ‘All this is really good, but how am I going to do this every day on set?’ He said I had to be on set. I had no idea of continuity. Every few weeks the hair needed to be cut and brought back to the same length that it was when we started shooting. I remember I was like a one-man army…. I don’t know what I was thinking. I never imagined that it would snowball into something which would become a full-fledged career option! Even when the film released, it did not hit me. And then for the longest time, I jumped from one set to another. It was quite crazy. I never considered myself to be a part of the Hindi film industry… finally I have embraced that. I am a hairdresser who does films. I don’t know how else to put it.
What have been some of your other favourite projects?
I really enjoy working with Zoya (Akhtar) as a director because she pays a lot of attention to detail. ZNMD (Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara), DDD (Dil Dhadakne Do)… Anil (Kapoor) had a complete transformation. No one had seen him like that before. Zoya said she wanted salt-and-pepper and it was tough. Rang De Basanti is also something very close to my heart. Dangal, too, for sure. You really get into the character; you feel for the girls that they have to really cut their hair off.
There’s Gold, which is releasing, and Gully Boy… it is a very exciting project because deglamourising is as hard, especially when the actors are glamorous personalities… sometimes I actually lose track!
Anyone ever made you nervous?
All clients make you nervous. If he or she has a strong personality, it doubles your anxiousness. Back in the time, there was a haircut called the mushroom haircut, a very heavy graduation line and tight back inside. To get that shape was quite hard. Graduation as a haircut is very difficult. It has to be precise. I remember doing that for the first time on a kid and I was super nervous. Your mouth goes dry!
Long hair or short hair, what do you love working with more?
As a hairdresser, it’s always fun working with short hair. While it looks beautiful, there’s only that much that you can do with long hair. If you are someone who ties up the hair all the time, you better chop it off. You’d rather work around with a great haircut. It’s an accessory that you have on yourself the whole time.
All forms of graduation are my favourite. I think it is one of the most beautiful shapes in hairdressing. I like short haircuts which have the right balance between femininity and, for lack of a better word, edgy. It needs to be really striking.
What is trending?
If you look at the international trends, it’s more towards what’s happening naturally with hair. We have been trying to inculcate that in our style of work. It’s not going to happen overnight. People are not going to stop doing round brush, blow-dry. But we are working with the natural texture of hair and the right styling products. The right haircut and colour placements help enhance that and also the right use of products… how to work that product into your hair, how much to use, how to give your hair that lived-in feel, styled but not styled.
How did you fall in love with hair?
I had a fascination with hair since I was very young, maybe as young as my daughter, she is six now. I just loved touching hair, feeling hair, playing with hair.
Coming from a Parsi family and for convenience, my mum kept our hair really short, at least through our school years. So, we had a regular visit to the salon. Well, there weren’t salons back in the day. They were a lot of these Air India, ex-Air India hostesses who studied in London and then had converted a room into a salon in their homes in Dadar Parsi Colony, where I lived. I remember going there and really enjoying the whole process of getting a change, the whole thing of being in that chair. That is what drew me. I have also cut my doll’s hair.
As I was growing up, a salon opened in my building, in my neighbour’s house. I used to spend a lot of time there and help my neighbour, who was an air-hostess... put in rollers and blow-dry her hair, wax my friend’s legs. I used to bleach my hair. I remember when my sister turned 16, my mother took her for her perm and first highlight. I have also locked myself in a bathroom and done things because I was fascinated by hair. I would make my own concoctions of conditioners… (laughs).
Did you study hair?
Definitely! When I finished school, I wanted to immediately get into hairdressing.
Back then, hairstyling wasn’t really considered a profession. Did you parents support you?
The background that I come from, my parents had no problem with anything we did, as long as we did it thoroughly…. One thing they were firm on was that I had to finish my graduation; what if I changed my mind?
When I wanted to study hair, there weren’t really schools. I was a huge fan of Vidal Sassoon’s work. I trained with Anuradha Prakash and her training was all from Sassoon. I think my foundation was set from there. I worked with her for about two years.
I fancied working in London because it was the mecca of hair, but it was expensive. I kind of left hairdressing at one point for multiple reasons and for about a year and a half, I started working in a production house as an AD. Simultaneously, I set up a salon in my house. I started assisting a make-up artist called Jojo. He was fantastic. And then I met Od (Adhuna Bhabani; founder and creative director of BBLUNT). She was opening her salon back then... in 1998. I joined her. And that’s that, really!
I did go to Sassoon in 1998-1999. I had saved up, my parents supported me. There are these Parsi scholarships that fund you for higher education. Since then I have had the chance to go multiple times… it’s been an amazing journey not only at Sassoon but also at Toni&Guy and other amazing hairdressers around the world. And that continues to grow. You never stop learning.
How has your profession changed you as a person?
Hairdressing has changed my personality. I was very shy, quiet, timid, not at all outgoing... no one will believe me when I say this!
You have to communicate with your client. We tell our students also that when you are cutting hair, it is like stepping on to a stage. You’ll have to be honest and diplomatic at the same time and you have to learn that on the job.
Saionee Chakraborty
