The man who cuts Rahman's hair

At 35, he's one of Bollywood's best known hairstylists. Among other things, Ryan D'Rozario was responsible for A R Rahman's straight hair at the Grammy Awards.

Which is why it comes as a shock when you learn Ryan was a resident DJ and graphic designer at Spin Visuals before he switched to hair styling.

After a year long course with famed Mumbai stylists Nalini & Yasmin, he worked with them for nine years. Then, he launched his own brand -- Salon Muah.

One of his clients -- casting director Shanu Sharma -- got him his first Bollywood break. Ryan was chosen by the Yash Raj banner to style Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukherji for Hum Tum.

His graphic designing background came handy when he showed his stars how their hair would look in the film.

Ryan's celebrity clientele has only grown since 2004. He shares their starry secrets with rediff.com's Patcy N.

Saif Ali Khan



My first Bollywood star client was Saif Ali Khan. After I clicked his pictures, I used them to create the seven different hairstyles Hum Tum demanded.



Saif was very finicky about his hair. It was a little difficult at the start but, luckily, Yash Raj had interviewed me and I had met Saif several times before the shooting actually started.



Saif has a combination of wavy and straight hair; it has great texture. We coloured his hair to beach blonde for Hum Tum. It was my favourite hairstyle on him and it appears towards the end of the film. In this style, his hair in front is a little straighter. It's a Chinese kind of look which he has maintained till date.



In one section of the film, Saif had to have long hair. We used a wig and cut the hair on the wig itself. Everybody, from the director to Saif, loved it; they felt it resembled Tom Cruise's look from Mission Impossible. They even use the the dialogue, 'Yeh mera Tom Cruise look hai,' in the film.



After everyone left, though, Saif felt the hair was coming on his face. He asked me to redo it. I was not happy because the director had okayed the look; but he insisted and forced me to cut it.



Saif is a great person to work with; he's a real prankster. For Hum Tum, we shot in Amsterdam for a month and had so much fun. Photographer Joy Dutta. Saif and I would occasionally go out partying.



On the sets, we would keep our distance but otherwise Saif is very friendly person. It is just that you should know your work and know where to draw the line.



I was also called for Saif's next Yash Raj movie, Salaam Namaste. I gave my ideas for Saif's and Arshad Warsi's looks in the film on a CD as they had demanded. I even cut Saif's hair. Later, though, I came to know I was not going to do the film since its budget has been slashed.



When the movie released, however, I realised they had used all my ideas. I was very upset because they did not pay me or give me credit. They apologised later, but I felt bad.

Image: Saif Ali Khan with an inset of Ryan D'Rozario