Celebrity hairstylist Aalim Hakim, who has worked on countless Bollywood blockbusters, recently addressed the backlash surrounding Adipurush and the memes targeting Saif Ali Khan’s look as Raavan. He opened up about his role in the controversial design choices and clarified the process behind the scenes.‘I’m just a technician. The director has the vision’Responding to criticism aimed at Saif’s look and character design, Aalim distanced himself from the creative direction, saying, “As I always say, I’m just a technician. The director has the vision, and I work hard to bring that to life.”He added, “Om Raut sir is a visionary. He had a different interpretation of Raavan, not the traditional one people have seen in Ramanand Sagar’s serial. He had a take inspired by a Viking-like aesthetic. But when you’re dealing with religious themes, even creative risks can backfire.”‘I got so many calls… people said don’t leave your house’Recounting the intense backlash, Aalim revealed that people from within the industry and his own friends joked and even warned him: “I got so many phone calls from the industry… people were pulling my leg, saying, ‘Beta, ghar se bahar nikalna nahi, public padi hai tereko maarne ke liye (Don’t come out of your house, people will beat the hell out of you!)’”He continued, “Everyone knew I did it, even though I never gave an interview or posted about it. I never claimed that the look was mine publicly. But the moment it leaked, people started pointing fingers.”
‘You win some, you lose some — that’s creativity’Despite the criticism, Aalim took the controversy in stride, comparing the experience to the ups and downs of a cricketer’s performance: “If you hit a century and then get out at zero, the entire country abuses you. But that doesn’t mean your talent disappears. It’s the same in our field.”Calling it a “part and parcel” of the creative industry, he said, “You try your best. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But you have to keep trying.”
