BOB REIMAGINED

What does the surge in celeb bob haircuts mean for a culture that has forever idolised long hair?

- KONIKA DATTA

The domination of the bob haircut, with all its iterations, has not gone unnoticed this year. When Hailey Bieber debuted this look earlier this year, there was a stark increase in the online searches for bob haircuts. Shortly after, Dakota Johnson, Zendaya, Megan Fox, and Emma Stone also flaunted different versions of this haircut. While we haven't seen a celeb uptick back home, we've spotted Deepika Padukone's lob, Anushka Sharma's modern bob, and Shraddha Kapoor's messy bob, which have inspired many a women to go short.

SOCIETAL DOGMA

Long hair is deeply rooted in Indian culture, and a rather problematic perception of short hair, no thanks to Hindi cinema, has prevailed for far too long in movies, the protagonist will always have long, shiny hair, whereas the characters playing negative roles, or free-spirited, 'tomboy' personalities have short hair. Adhuna Bhabani, hairstylist, and founder of BBLUNT salon, shares her experience: "When I came to India and started working here almost 30 years ago, there were only a handful of people who were willing to try this hairstyle," she cites.