From Sanjay Dutt to Suniel Shetty to Kajol, everyone's got a snip from his magic scissors. Meet Aalim Hakim, the hairstylist Bollywood stars rely on for a bold new look.

Sure enough, some of the biggest stars of the Hindi film industry were present as Hakim launched his second salon in the posh Bandra area.

And it was no surprise that everyone, from Sanjay and Suniel to Anil Kapoor, Ronit Roy, Arbaaz Khan, Sonu Nigam and Salman Khan visited the salon to thank and congratulate him.

"I hate doing the same old film styling and that's why I prefer giving them a fresh new look," Hakim, whose father Hakim Kairanvi was the stylist of Amitabh Bachchan, told IANS.

His clientele reads like a who's who of Bollywood - Sanjay, Ajay Devgan, Anil, Suniel, Salman, Mahesh Manjrekar, Hrithik Roshan, Adnan Sami, Vivek Oberoi, Manoj Bajpai and Ashutosh Rana.

Recently Ajay Devgan was in the news for his new look and credit for that goes to Hakim. "For 'Bhoot', I had given Ajay a coloured French beard and made him look like Hugh Grant," he says.

And that's not all. For Harry Baweja's film, he gave Ajay the George Michael type of look.

"Conceptualising a new look involves a lot of homework. When I design hair, I keep it futuristic because films are released many days after we cut the hair and it should not look old fashioned."

"You can't just go about giving a Hollywood look to a Bollywood movie. You have to take into account the background of the story and the character."

For example, Sanjay and Suniel went through two different time phases in "Rudraksh". "Their mannerisms, look and acting varied accordingly. In some portions, you will see them sporting a rugged, messy look while later they look suave and Western."

Hakim started playing with hair at the young age of 16, when he used to give cuts to his friends in Mithibai College in Mumbai. Once he perfected the art, he graduated into doing hairstyles for film stars.

How does he keep himself updated on the latest styles?

"I attend conferences, but the secret is that we Indians mostly follow the fashion statements made by black Americans. Whites will hardly play around with hair or clothes. But blacks try out a lot to stand out and to improvise on their looks," says the stylist.

"The first star that I cut hair for was Vivek. We're FYJC (first year junior college) friends and used to act in plays together. Now I do his hair all the time.

"So far, the only actress whose hair I've been cutting for the past two years is Kajol - that short look.

"Actors come to me telling me that their hair is scanty; that they want it to look like a bouquet!" he smiles.

Suniel, who was present at the function, says: "We're always joking that as 90 percent of the actors are bald, he has something to play with in my hair. Aalim looks into your eyebrows and moustache too. He's very creative and a good soul."

Aalim thinks Kamal Hasan is the best actor ever and never shies away from donning different looks.

"Kamal Hasan is a visionary and is way ahead of his contemporaries. Observe his roles and looks in 'Nayakan', 'Chachi 420' and others...He knows how to package his experimentation."

Hakim has also become the undisputed king of goatees. Predicting the trends of the near future, he says: "Long hair that will cover the ears."