Keeping it short & edgy
Neha Saini
When it comes to men’s hair, the shorter the better as we see the undercut hair in men becoming a rage these days. The edgy, rebellious, cool and stylish undercut hairstyle is one of the most followed trends in men’s hair for a while now and, looking at its popularity, it is here to stay. Not just men in the city, but in villages too youngsters are taking this retro-cool hairstyle, of course, adding their own vibe to it.
A resurgence of this retro-inspired hairstyle was seen post 2017-18, with Virat Kohli, Shahid Kapoor and Akshay Kumar sporting the sleek style, giving ample celebrity push and inspiration for many to follow. Since then, there has been no looking back as modern undercut with slight variations has become the latest fad, the most recent look served by the suave Ranbir Kapoor (for his look in the film Animal).
The variations include Virat Kohli-inspired quiff; the massy flat top or muffin top, which becomes a broccoli top if you have curly hair (more than the hair, the names amuse, right?); Mohawk style, making a retro comeback; then there’s the back-tapered hair with side flick or undercut (if you remember Mr Slick Leonardo Di Caprio in The Great Gatsby); another popular one is the tapered hair with fine undercuts, popularised by British heartthrobs Zayn Malik and David Beckham.
The 1980s buzz cut, an extreme cleaned out undercut variation that was initially popularised by Arnold Schwarzenegger, is also making a classic comeback. With celebrity men-grooming expert Aalim Hakim introducing some free-spirited, cool variations like mullets, Mohawks and Caesar cut, the trend is here to stay
A trip across the rural belt of Punjab reveals how young men in villages too have been keeping their mane-game strong. Like 36-year-old Inderbir Singh, from Batala, who sports a Karan Aujla-style undercut with muffin top. “Mostly, the undercut hairstyle became popular as it was trendy and I saw many young people in my friends’ circle taking it. So, I wanted to keep up with the trend,” he shares. Inderbir works as a truck driver in Dubai and is here for a short vacation to meet his family.
Just like him, Satbir Singh, a 30-year-old, who runs a garment shop at Batala-Verka bypass, too, has been ‘influenced’ into keeping his hair short and trendy. “I saw many Punjabi singers doing it and it looks nice without spending much on styling and other products,” he said. Although,he did not choose to dye his hair silver, he definitely plans to keep them short for a while. Padampreet Singh, 23-year-old from Heir, who works at a local petrol station, sports a tapered style undercut and he has also experimented with hair colours.
“The youngsters, even older men for that matter, are going in for the cool edgy undercut, especially buzzcut, this season, as it suits our weather conditions and also looks trendy. This style has become popular as it requires minimal upkeep and looks great in professional as well as personal style game,” shared Abhay Girdhar, a hairstylist from Ludhiana.
