BOLLYWOOD AND PAKISTAN

ANOTHER ONE IN AN ENGLISH NEWSPAPER
Bollywood sets trends for Pak kids


LAHORE: His look-at-me faux Gap vest doesn't fool anyone but 24-year-old Sharjeel Rabbani has an earnestness that is beguiling. "Didn't you notice I look like Abhishek Bachchan?" he asks. The answer barely meets his approval.

It is obvious that the struggle and bitterness of an aspiring model and television star hasn't got to Rabbani yet as he rehearses for a play, Dil Se Dil Tak in Lahore's Crown auditorium. "I follow what the top Indian stars wear but it is so difficult to get those kind of clothes here," he adds with a look of frustration. The French beard and trendy faded jeans are all part of a cultivated look.

In a city considered less cosmopolitan than Karachi or Islamabad, Rabbani is increasingly becoming a frequent exception. While older men wear long kurtas and shalwars, the younger generation weaned on a diet of McDonald's, Ricky Martin and Shahrukh Khan are ready for some serious experimentation.

If Indians have an undying obsession for globalism now then for most Pakistanis, Bollywood's tinsel lights are the last word in fashion and attitude. Says 19-year-old Sarfraz Beg who sports blonde hair highlights: "I spend about Rs 2000 on getting my hair styled and coloured every month. I even get a facial."

Probe further and you discover that it was Sunny Deol's Hero that finally made him take the plunge to self-improvement.

"I have seen and bought every single CD for Sunny's movie," he says and you believe him.

The 'Punjaab da Puttar' though must bow down to Shah Rukh Khan when it comes to popularity amongst women.

If Dil Chahta Hai spawned a flurry of goatees on the men about town then Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham just snipped the length of kurtas for the women. While Shah Rukh Khan rules the roost, Aamir Khan and Salman Khan come a close second in this race for gush and Ajay Devgan wins over the 'rural crowd', one is informed.

Kareena Kapoor has cruelly taken over a 14-year-old's heart leaving him quite hopeless for anything else, he says. "I like her a lot," Ishar Ahmed says emotionally.

Fardeen Khan and Sanjay Dutt also find a fan following among city audiences like psychology student Sandhya Naaz from Faisalabad who is in Lahore for a holiday with her cousins.