Produced by: Manoj Kumar
Photos : instagram/aalimhakim
Aalim Hakim charges a cool ₹1 lakh per haircut—and that’s just the base rate. Add GST, and it’s ₹1.18 lakh per sitting. For film shoots, the bill can soar to ₹15 lakh. No discounts. No exceptions.
Yes, Aalim’s bill includes ₹18,000 in GST. He says it’s not about vanity pricing—it’s about professional rigor. “If they earn, I earn,” he explains. And if paperwork’s involved, so is full payment.
Hakim won’t charge close friends—unless they’re profiting from the project. Personal loyalty is free. Commercial value? That’s always invoiced.
His clients don’t flinch at ₹3–5 lakh per session. Why? “They see the results on screen,” Aalim says. “If it didn’t show, they wouldn’t pay.”
Aalim insists: his fee isn’t just a number—it’s a standard. “Everyone goes to school, but not everyone becomes iconic,” he says, brushing off critics who call his rates inflated.
His father, a film industry barber, died while cutting Amitabh Bachchan’s hair. Aalim was just 9. That legacy, he says, fuels everything he does today.
He rarely works the floor at his salons. “If I sit there, everyone wants only me,” he says. His team handles everyday clients with prices ranging ₹2,500–₹6,000.
“They can take my clients, not my talent.” Aalim knows stylists trained under him launch their own shops—but his edge, he insists, can’t be cloned.
As stylists rake in lakhs per day, writers and technicians struggle for basic dues. Even John Abraham calls it “mental.” Aalim’s fee has become a flashpoint in a bleeding industry.