Hairy situation

Ever noticed how most of the 'gulli' salons and parlours invariably have the picture of a film star adorning their door? I have been observing this ever since I was a kid. In those times, there was a single face that would be smiling back at you from the welcome sign : Amitabh Bacchan's. This makes me wonder (I will assume that most men go to a salon for nothing more than a haircut), was his hair style really that attractive, that salons would use him as their advertising model....Or was his fame the driving factor? I presume that when a man would enter some such salon for a haircut, he would expect that he comes out with hair like Mr. Bacchan's; that too at a price of rupees 10. Not a bad deal, is it?

Nowadays there are a much wider variety of faces adorning salons. People have evolved to demand more options. In fact, nobody wants a haircut like his neighbor's. Also the expectations are not just limited to having a 'filmi' haircut. People want model-like looks. Gone are the days when Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh were style icons. Today it's Ashmit Patel and Milind Soman's hair that rocks.

It's not a different story when it comes to women. Most of the 'women's only' salons have Aishwarya's face welcoming you in. Must say that Aishwarya pretty much is the sole contender in the womens' department. I have not seen many other faces here. Women enter a salon for better hair and better skin. When they enter, they hope for a miracle that will turn them into this beautiful princess by the time they walk out. Hence Aishwarya's face on most salons. After all, the concept of a beauty queen in itself is a fantasy world fairy tale, on which the sponsors encash and make millions. But we women are like that, we love fantasies and love to live in them.

A final observation, and one that always amuses me. There are some low-budget salons, those that cannot arrange to get a 'filmi' photo of a star printed on their welcome sign. Now you don't think they are going to settle for just a plain welcome baord saying 'Famus heircuts', with no star picture to accompany the bad spellings, do you? Certainly not!! They would lose critical business! So what do they do? They get the picture painted. And here is where the fun starts. Check out some of the paintings if you ever happen to see one...most of them turn out to be hilarious! Sometimes, because they can't paint the eyes right, they show the film star donning black shades :) I had once seen a a few paintings, that if the stars see themselves, they would cringe in their seat. They would then wish they were never famous :)