Remember seeing any top Bollywood star — past or present — proudly flaunting a stylish salt-and-pepper look? Chances are that you wouldn’t have, especially in an industry that’s obsessed with a star’s image, public perceptions, and youthful looks. But Akshay Kumar is clearly in the mood to smash the stigma attached with it (we’ve got hold of an exclusive image of his new look), as he acquires a chic grey mop of hair à la Hollywood star George Clooney. In a candid conversation, Akshay talks about his new avatar, fashionable outings and family vacations.
Your salt-and-pepper look is absolutely stylish and suits you a lot. How did you decide on it?
To start with, thank you for your kind compliments and secondly, for being so open-minded about my salt-and-pepper look (smiles). Actually, my stylist and I have been planning this avatar for about a month now and were trying to see how imaginative we could be. We ordered silver hair wax from China — which is made of natural ingredients — and experimented with different tones, but I was most excited about being a Silver Fox, so we cut [my hair], styled it and played around until we got the look that made us go, ‘Hell, yeah!’
Since I play a London-based barber in Housefull 4, I was really excited to push the boundaries of my character [vis-à-vis my look] and play a barber that India has never seen before. Also, when I see myself now, it gives me a sneak peek into what I’ll look like in roughly 10 years (smiles) .As for my silver beard, that’s as real as it gets — I’m now the proud owner of a fully salted beard with only a dash of pepper (laughs).
You are at the peak of your acting career. Didn’t you think even for a minute before going for this look, as we hardly see any top star in Bollywood doing it?
Oh, it was definitely a gamble, but one that I was completely willing to go ahead with. Be it men or women, India is very obsessed with a thick, full mop of black hair. So, men must be styled with a full head of hair for eternity, and women’s hair must be lustrous and blow-dried at all times (laughs), and heaven forbid, if you lose hair or worse still, if it turns grey.
But you’ve never been afraid to experiment with your looks…
Well, I’m happily going to do what I do best and try and break the stigma attached with [grey hair]. Salt and pepper not only works well on eggs but I believe it’s an awesome shade to wear — loudly and proudly. I don’t want to be an old man who is trying to look 18. As they say, ‘old is gold, but silver is sensational.’