“You have lovely hair,” smiles Adhuna Bhabani, Founder and Creative Director of salon chain BBlunt, here in the city to launch a salon.
This is a first. Most hairdressers offer a string of unflattering comments every time they have to cut my hair. My hair, a cross between Dolly Parton’s and Raggedy Ann’s, is hardly my crowning glory. On a bad day (and today is one), a couple of birds can nest in my flyaway, frizz-prone locks.
The problem, says Bhabani, isn’t the hair, but the way it is handled. “Curly hair is very special and needs to be respected,” she says, offering a slew of tips: never pressure-cut it; use layers to reduce bushiness; don’t use a brush to comb it, just your fingers; use a cream-based styling product…
“Hairdressers, on the whole, really need to learn how to handle curly hair. We, at BBlunt, love it though,” she smiles.
Her own hair, an asymmetric, textured bob with blond highlights and teased waves, is sleek, chic and very flattering; not a stray curl in sight. “Yes, my hair isn’t curly. But curls run in the family,” she grins. She adds that her twin sister and one of her daughters possess wild, corkscrew curls, “so it’s good to know how to manage curls the right way.”
Embracing and creating the best version of yourself is what Bhabani believes in. This means personalising the cut to the wearer, rather than trying to create a cooker-cutter model of ‘perfect’ hair. “There is a technique and methodology to cutting hair that doesn’t change of course. The art of cutting hair is about taking that technique and personalising it. We don’t cut, copy, paste; we craft hair for the individual,” she says.
Making the cut
She was all of fourteen when she developed a fascination for hair, says the UK-born Bhabani. “My mother used to really take pride in her hair and would visit this particular salon regularly. I would go along with her,” smiles Bhabani.
She loved the fact that “creating something nice with someone’s hair can make them feel so good,” and began working part-time at the salon in summer and after school. Once she finished school, she joined them full-time. “I built my career from there,” she says.
She was based in the UK for many years: working with product manufacturers, and even dabbling in competitive hairdressing. In 1994, she came to India and started her first salon, under a different brand, in Mumbai with her brother, Osh Bhabani. The BBlunt chain began in 2004; it has now expanded to over 20 salons across the country. “If all goes well, we will be 26 by the end of the year,” she smiles.
In 2013, GCPL (Godrej Consumer Products Limited) picked up a 30% stake in the company. They worked together to launch a range of exclusive hair care products: conditioners, shampoos, masques, styling gels, colours and more. “It is a dream come true, “ says Bhabani, who works closely with Godrej’s R&D team on this.
Movie madness
Bhabani’s tryst with Bollywood, with Dil Chahta Hai in 2001, was more than just a defining moment in her career; it changed the face of Indian hairdressing in many ways. From Preity Zinta’s unruly curls to Aamir Khan’s short spikes, the film’s hairstyles pushed the envelope.
“We had not worked in film before and we didn’t do anything specifically for the movie. We just cut hair the way we always have,” she says.
But it changed the way hair was perceived, not just in Bollywood, but beyond, “Bollywood influences everything, and I don’t think any other movie changed hair the way Dil Chahta Hai did,” says Bhabani. “It was almost like how Vidal Sassoon revolutionised hair in the 60s,” she says, adding that the British hairstylist remains her biggest inspiration.
Sassoon, who introduced ready-to-wear hairstyles like the bob, the five-point cut and the pixie, didn’t just create styles, he offered emancipation, not just from towering beehives, but from domesticity. “He came at a time when women were getting into the workplace and no longer had time to squander over long hair; that was why they were cutting it off,” says Bhabani.
She feels that there is now a similar synergy in India, “there is acute awareness of women’s empowerment and struggles. I want to achieve what he has done at a global level, here in India.”
