Salman Khan in ‘Tere Naam’; Kareena Kapoor Khan in ‘K3G’; Trisha in ’96’ and Nivin Pauly in ‘Premam’shilajitmitra
Updated on: 07 Nov 2026, 5:30 am
Some costumes stay on screen. Others escape it — turning up at farewells, sangeets and college fests, on barbershop walls and boutique racks. To mark this crossover, The Hollywood Reporter India revisits 25 looks, spanning six decades and five film industries, that outgrew their films entirely. From Aamir Khan’s accidental soul patch in Dil Chahta Hai to Trisha’s understated kurta in ’96, these are the outfits, haircuts and accessories that didn’t just define a character — they rewired how an entire generation dressed, styled and saw itself. Cinema didn’t just reflect fashion here; for once, it set the terms.
Aamir Khan in ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ (2001)
Aamir Khan in ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ (2001).Courtesy of Excel Entertainment
“You used to keep licking the triangle,” Saif Ali Khan joked on a recent panel celebrating 25 years of Dil Chahta Hai, referring to Aamir Khan’s iconic soul patch — the bit of beard under his lower lip — that his character Akash sported.
Also known as a mouche, the soul patch has traditionally graced vampires and beatniks, but here Khan made it look effortlessly urbane and cool. It embodied a kind of yuppie-hipness that complemented Akash’s outgoing and affluent personality. The look, it transpires, was arrived at by total accident, while Aamir was shaving his face after getting a haircut and decided to leave off a spot of facial hair. The pop-cultural impact was seismic, especially in urban India, though many mistakenly called it a ‘goatee’ and ended up confusing their barbers. The cocky urban hipster has since retired from Hindi screens, but the soul patch — for those who like to lick — deserves a revival.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in ‘Jodhaa Akbar’ (2008)
The jewellery in Jodhaa Akbar was among the many talking points in the run up to its release. Purchased from the jewellery brand Tanishq, a team of 200 craftsmen worked for 600 days with around 400 kgs of gold, precious, semi-precious stones and pearls, to make these prized commodities. Five security guards were deployed to protect it.
Stories were circulating about the weight of these necklaces. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan noted the difficulty to carry these jewels and act. For example, the set, which she wore in the scene where Jodhabai is wedded to Akbar weighed 3.5 kgs. The regal look, Mughal influence, and involved artistry, made Tanishq even launch a Jodhaa Akbar range, displaying three pieces from the film, and putting them up for sale.
Allu Arjun in ‘Arya 2’ (2009)
Allu Arjun in ‘Arya 2’ (2009).
Before his moniker became ‘Icon Star’ and his pop culture-dom went pan-Indian, Allu Arjun made his mark in the Telugu industry with a series of ultra-stylish characters, so much so that his sobriquet was Stylish Star in his movie credits. What comes to mind immediately as a definitive look was his “sharp corporate” avatar in Arya 2, that had several fans clamouring to spruce up the way they dressed to work.
With a line of sleek jackets, crisp shirts, skinny ties, tailored trousers and those unmistakable rectangular glasses giving him the look of a young executive who might either close a billion-dollar deal or ace the office quiz, Arjun aced the peak late-2000s corporate chic look. The waistcoats added an extra layer of seriousness, while the side-swept hair kept the whole thing firmly in Tollywood aesthetic territory. It was nerdy, preppy and aggressively polished, with just enough swagger to remind you that this was still a Telugu movie hero.
Ajith in ‘Mankatha’ (2011)
In 2026, it doesn’t seem like a big deal that an actor played the lead in a film sporting a look with greying hair and beard. But Ajith was not playing an aged character in Mankatha nor was there an elaborate flashback which showed a much younger version of him. In Mankatha, he simply embraced his greys and broke a long-standing role of commercial Indian cinema — that the hero must try to look young on screen, no matter his real age. He made ageing look cool, and this was only magnified when you add to the fact that he was also playing an unapologetically bad guy in the film. Since Mankatha, every major star in every industry has tried their hand at the salt-n-pepper look.
Alia Bhatt in ‘Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani’ (2023)
Alia Bhatt in ‘Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani’ (2023).Courtesy of Dharma Productions
There’s a particular kind of madness that hits a nation when Karan Johar decides a heroine must wear chiffon. In Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, Alia Bhatt’s Rani doesn’t just wear saris on screen, she weaponises them. Every drape plays like a love letter to the ’60s heroine nobody asked to be resurrected, and yet here we are, kohl-rimmed and helpless. Designer Manish Malhotra, who dressed Bhatt’s character, journalist Rani Randhawa, throughout the film, says the appeal came from restraint rather than spectacle: the sari was styled to look worn-in, not red-carpet-ready, which is precisely what made it so easy for fans to attempt themselves.
Tailors across the country reported a surge in requests for ‘the Alia sari’. Instagram and TikTok were filled with side-by-side recreations, some shot frame-for-frame against the film’s choreography. Malhotra has called the response “aftermath satisfaction”, the rare instance of a costume outliving its scene.
Anushka Sharma in ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ (2016)
Anushka Sharma in ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ (2016)Courtesy of Dharma Productions
Alizeh’s wardrobe in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil worked by refusing the genre’s usual instinct. Bollywood rom-coms dress their heroines to be watched; Manish Malhotra dressed Alizeh in clothes that felt lived in. The signature moment, an embellished, high-slit kurta paired with ripped jeans and boots in “The Breakup Song”, wasn’t bridal or red-carpet coded, it was streetwear with an Indian accent, ethnic without ever announcing itself.
The contrast within the film did the rest of the work. Set against Aishwarya Rai’s fur-and-trench glamour as Saba, Alizeh’s fusion pieces read as deliberately undone, a girl dressing for herself in a foreign city, not for the frame. That distinction is what gave the look its staying power off screen: kurta-and-denim stopped being a compromise between “traditional” and “western” and became its own category, one the regular audience could actually recreate without a stylist or a wedding to justify it.
Deepika Padukone & Ranbir Kapoor in ‘Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani’ (2013)
Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone in ‘Badtameez Dil’
There is not a single college farewell in India that didn’t have a bit of Ayan Mukerji’s Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani in it. With one chartbuster sequence, Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone created a permanent cultural template for youth fashion. In “Badtameez Dil”, Deepika’s royal blue electric sari paired with a bikini blouse and Ranbir’s sleek, unbuttoned tux instantly stamped themselves onto the collective psyche of Indian youth.
No matter the city or campus, students suddenly had their definitive farewell uniform. It turned traditional ethnic wear into something effortlessly cool, setting an aesthetic benchmark that remains unbroken a decade later.
Hrithik Roshan in ‘Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai’ (2000)
Hrithik Roshan in ‘Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai’ (2000)Courtesy of Filmkraft Productions (India) Pvt. Ltd
Who knew that back in 2000, all Hrithik Roshan had to do was a couple of arm-pumps in a see-through top to break the proverbial internet? The black mesh top from Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai’s “Ek Pal Ka Jeena” turned a debutant into an overnight obsession. Styled by designer Salman Khan (not the actor), the look was built around a fitted, semi-sheer mesh T-shirt paired with slim, straight-cut black trousers — an all-black base that kept every eye on Roshan’s physique and choreography. Rimless rectangular sunglasses with blue-tinted lens and a simple black headband finished the look, channelling the Y2K, boyband-pop aesthetic that MTV had made global currency.
The tight sleeves cut off right at his biceps, framing his physique so precisely that the now-iconic “air pump” step became the moment the outfit was truly built for. Gyms reportedly saw a spike in young men chasing his physique, and the mesh top became a staple for years after, replicated at every college fest and party. Whether the outfit was actually cool, or Roshan simply made it look that way doesn’t really matter — it still gave Hindi cinema a new template for what a leading man could look like.
Katrina Kaif in ‘Fitoor’ (2016)
Katrina Kaif’s red hair became fodder for news outlets even before Fitoor released, when she debuted it at the Cannes film festival. In fact, she went to London’s hair expert Daniel Galvin, who has worked on celebrities such as pop star Madonna and the late Princess Diana. It was reported that this cost ₹55 lakhs, and the news spread so widely Kaif had to respond, denying this.
Symbolic of fall in Kashmir, with red chinar leaves, but also passion, this look cascaded down, where people were making DIY dyes and posting their photos of being inspired by this look at a time when social media was on the steady rise.
Kareena Kapoor Khan in ‘Jab We Met’ (2007)
Kareena Kapoor Khan and Shahid Kapoor in ‘Jab We Met’
Imtiaz Ali’s Jab We Met was an iconic piece of film in pop culture. Its dialogues, its characters, and so many of its costumes went on to become signature icons in their own right. But ask any 2007 shopper why patiala pants suddenly flew off store shelves, and the answer traces back to one iconic look: Kareena Kapoor’s Geet, in a graphic white tee and patiala pants, chasing down a train.
The look, styled by Manish Malhotra, was casual — a skinny tee printed with a vintage Mughal-e-Azam poster, layered over a blue camisole for contrast, paired with pleated patiala pants and embroidered juttis. Malhotra has since said the whole idea was his: put a film print on a T-shirt, pair it with a patiala, and let it “look amazing”. He wasn’t wrong.
The outfit worked because it looked so comfortable yet effortlessly put-together — the kind of thing an actual Punjabi girl might throw on before a long train journey, not a costume department’s glamorous idea of one. That authenticity is exactly what turned it into a street-style staple; girls found themselves adopting the same kind of look, mixing and matching patiala pants with graphic T-shirts of every colour. It also became one of the most recognisable looks to recreate at Bollywood-themed costume parties. Geet might have missed her train, but the look never lost track. It’s been running on repeat ever since.
Kareena Kapoor Khan in ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham…’ (2001)
Kareena Kapoor Khan in ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham…’ (2001).Courtesy of Dharma Productions
It’s all well and good to hail Pooja “Poo” Raichand as the ultimate style icon of modern Hindi cinema: the vibiest vibe to have ever vibed, the regal superstar concealing the softness of the girl next door. But so much of Poo’s cultdom stems from the way a confident Kareena Kapoor wore the Manish Malhotra-designed vanity.
From the campy intro montage scored to Geri Halliwell’s “It’s Raining Men” to the skimpy college attire to the red sequined top and shiny pants of “You Are My Soniya” to the ravishing anarkali-dupatta combo in “Bole Chudiyan”, each of her outfits became synonymous with the character’s transformation from modest Chandni Chowk teen to swaggy NRI queen.
She remains the cultural moment and fashion-forward celebrity that partitioned a post-liberalisation Bollywood into a Before and After. Everyone wanted those clothes, but it was the personality that became non-negotiable.
Katrina Kaif in ‘Singh is Kinng’ (2008)
Ask any girl in the 2000s which look they were obsessed with and you’ll get the same answer: Katrina Kaif in Singh is Kinng’s (2008) song “Jee Karda”. She showed up in a fitted pink crop top, a flared pink micro mini skirt splashed with golden polka dots, and knee-high pink boots — an outfit that started one of the biggest fashion obsessions in the country. Every girl wanted to wear the exact same pink outfit! Apparently, her co-star Akshay Kumar was sceptical the monochrome look would land — Kaif was convinced the kids would love it. She was right.
This became one of her most talked about looks, sending girls and teenagers into a frenzy over one colour. Salons and shops saw a wave of pink-on-pink requests; college fests and costume parties recreated the look for years after. Before ‘barbiecore’ was a global trend, Kaif had already lived it. Was the outfit fashionable or did Katrina just make it look that cool? Hard to tell. Either way, this one outfit — so saturated in one colour it became mid-2000s Bollywood at its most maximalist — turned a costume into a spectacle.
Kichcha Sudeep in ‘Hebbuli’ (2017)
Kichcha Sudeep in ‘Hebbuli’ (2017).Courtesy of SRV Productions and Umapathy Films
How often does a film “look” become so popular that school headmasters write concerned letters to salons? It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call Kichcha Sudeep’s hairstyle from the Kannada film Hebbuli (2017) a cultural sensation. Sudeep’s look, wearing his hair longer on one side and shorter on the other, quickly became one of the most replicated hairstyles in modern Indian cinema.
The hairdo led a Karnataka headmaster to write a distressed letter to a salon, requesting they deny students this hairstyle. “Several pupils at our school are getting the Hebbuli-style haircut. Their attention to fashion has begun to overshadow their academic interest and to negatively impact their academic achievement. I thus ask that you trim our pupils’ hair in a regulated manner,” his letter reportedly read. The film’s unique popularity also spawned a Kannada film titled Hebbuli Cut (2025), which explored the life of a boy in North Karnataka who sets out to get this haircut against all odds.
Text by Sruthi Ganapathy Raman
Mahesh Babu and Vijay in ‘Pokiri’ (2006) and ‘Pokkiri’ (2007)
Both superstars have had their fair share of iconic on-screen looks over the years that influenced boys and men across generations to put together new wardrobes, but together, they helped turn the layered shirt look into one of the defining male fashion trends of the late 2000s with their roles in the Telugu and Tamil versions of Pokkiri.
The formula came in a couple of variations. Sometimes it was two shirts worn one over the other, with the sleeves of the outer shirt rolled up. Sometimes it was a short-sleeved shirt over a long-sleeved T-shirt, creating that instantly recognisable contrast at the arms. Checks, stripes, prints and bright colours added to the effect.
The look was a staple of the heroes’ charming local-goon image, often finished with a matching scarf wrapped tied around the wrist. The whole combination had a flamboyant, thrown-together quality that made ordinary shirts and T-shirts feel like proper movie-star clothes, as the two-shirt trend became particularly associated with the films and had a life of its own beyond the screen.
Layered shirts showed up in colleges, at birthday parties, in photographs and on weekend outings, as boys tried out their own versions of what they were seeing on screen. Its staying power came partly from the fact that it gave people a whole new way to look at clothes they already had. Shirts, T-shirts, colours and layers could suddenly be combined in ways they hadn’t considered before, making it an unusually accessible movie fashion trend.
Nivin Pauly in ‘Premam’ (2015)
Nivin Pauly in ‘Premam’ (2015).Courtesy of Anwar Rasheed Entertainment
It’s been 11 years since the release of Premam but the cultural impact of this Nivin Pauly blockbuster has only grown with time. This year’s biggest blockbuster, Bethlehem Kudumba Unit, continues to benefit from the signature Pauly charm but among the many factors that contributed to his familiarity is how he was seen almost entirely in a veshti in the film.
Naturally, the genesis of this began with Premam in which he got one of Malayalam cinema’s all-time entry (re-entry) scenes when he matched a simple white mundu with a black shirt. No Onam or traditional day at work has passed by since without men trying to recreate the aura of Nivin from that iconic scene.
Pawan Kalyan in ‘Kushi’ (2001)
Pawan Kalyan in ‘Kushi’ (2001).Courtesy of Sri Surya Films.
Pawan Kalyan’s Siddhu in Kushi serves a lot of looks as a hip, reckless boy navigating love and friendship in college. A big part of this aesthetic was the green GAP hoodie, which went from a fashionable outfit to a uniform many of his fans wanted a piece of. The hoodie, which arguably broke into pop culture in a very visible fashion in the 2000s, is a wardrobe staple for the character in the blockbuster rom-com.
Kalyan is seen wearing logo-heavy pullovers and sweatshirts throughout the film, but he sports a GAP outfit on more than one occasion. The hoodie perhaps also provided fans with the versatility and ease of access that they were looking for.
Text by Sruthi Ganapathy Raman
Priyanka Chopra in ‘Dostana’ (2008)
Priyanka Chopra in ‘Dostana’ (2008).Courtesy of Dharma Productions
Very few looks have had the pop culture impact of Priyanka’s “Desi Girl” sari. It was ahead of its time, viral before viral was even a thing. Skimpy, backless, unapologetically sensual, the silver-gold drape, designed by Manish Malhotra, came with a knotted blouse that bared almost the entire back, a silhouette Bollywood had rarely dared put on a saree. It took the six yards, usually coded as modest and demure, and rewired it into something bold, seductive, and modern.
The sari became inseparable from the film’s success itself, shorthand for the “Desi Girl” identity: recreated on magazine covers, danced to at sangeets, stitched into wedding choreography, still circulating decades later. It also pushed mainstream fashion toward backless blouses and metallic drapes as red-carpet-worthy, not just costume-department theatrics. Long before “iconic” became internet currency, this look had already staked its claim to the word.
Rani Mukerji in ‘Bunty Aur Babli’ (2005)
In Bunty Aur Babli costume designer Aki Narula, then making his big Hindi-film break, reworked the humble patiala salwar and kurti into something markets couldn’t keep in stock. Rani Mukerji, as the small-town Babli, wore short kurtis with patiala salwars, and the look became inescapable that year — every second young lady owned a pair, glitter and shimmer included, of course.
The charm lay in a wardrobe that read as small-town aspiration rather than studio glamour. It may have been gaudy, but it was grounded and that’s precisely why it caught on: it looked achievable. Local tailors could copy it; college girls did.
Salman Khan in ‘Dabangg’ (2010)
Sunglasses mean a lot in Indian film. A statement of swagger. A declaration of intent. Pointy parenthesis of a power move. Dabangg (2010) took this timeless article of style and gave it a refreshing spin. The crooked cop Chulbul Pandey wears dark gold-rimmed a hang off his chest during a fight, as most heroes would, he gives it a nice spin and a flick and magically parks it on his back collar
It’s one of those funky flourishes that make a commercial hero instantly iconic. The film good-humouredly explains this quirk in a scene: asked why he always wears his glasses on the back, Chulbul rejoins curtly, “So I can see in both directions.”
Ray-Ban, the world’s most popular aviator brand, likely got a major boost in Indian markets following the free endorsement, though knockoffs and bootlegs flooded the streets as usual. So recognisable was the look that future Dabangg instalments leaned heavily into its appeal. In fact, a cartoon adaptation, titled Dabangg Animated, had Chulbul rocking the glasses almost permanently. Has anyone ever tried the ‘Dabangg flick’ IRL and landed on the first attempt? Should it be recognised as a formal sport? Rajinikanth, the pre-eminent tosser of sunglasses in Indian films, would nail it in a wink.
Salman Khan in ‘Tere Naam’ (2003)
What is the ultimate marker that a film has penetrated deep into the mass subconscious? When street barbers start reproducing the lead character’s haircut. Satish Kaushik’s Tere Naam was built on the tragic weight of Salman Khan’s heart, but its ground-level cultural impact was defined entirely by his hair.
As Radhe, Khan’s slicked-down, exaggerated centre parting became an instant rage across India, especially in tier-2 and tier-3 India. An entire generation of college boys copied the fringe, braving detentions and reprimands just to wear the look. The hairstyle was a rebellious pop-culture identity.
Samantha Ruth Prabhu in ‘Eega’ (2012)
In S.S. Rajamouli’s Eega, Samantha Ruth Prabhu played Bindu, a spirited young NGO worker whose checked shirt-dress style became one of the film’s quieter but longer-lasting legacies. Paired with loose hair, minimal accessories, and a red sling bag, the look soon became a familiar style, especially among the college-going youth of the time.
Rajamouli’s film, a genre-bending fantasy about a man reincarnated as a housefly, had little use for the conventional glamour of film fashion. Bindu’s clothing reflected her world: functional, breathable, and comfortable for her to work in, making it a relatable, easy-to-replicate look for young women. Her checkered shirt-dress outfit felt like something a viewer could pull out of their own cupboard the next morning — and many did. The look filtered into how young women thought about their everyday outfits, inspired look-alikes, recreations, custom creations and more, nudging checked shirt-dresses into a broader moment as a go-to campus look and a casual closet staple.
Shah Rukh Khan in ‘Mohabbatein’ (2000)
Shah Rukh Khan in ‘Mohabbatein’ (2000).Courtesy of Yash Raj Productions
Can a sweater on a sweater make a man look smarter, softer, and more romantic all at once? Ask Shah Rukh Khan’s Raj Aryan Malhotra, the professor who turned knitwear into a personality.
In Mohabbatein, styled by Karan Johar, Khan’s look was built on simple layering: a crisp striped off-white collared shirt, tucked into high-waisted pleated trousers, finished with a pastel-blue sweater draped loosely over the shoulders rather than worn straight. Add rimless spectacles and a violin and you had a professor who looked more heartthrob than academic.
The sweater-drape wasn’t just a styling choice; it became shorthand for a certain kind of soft, preppy masculinity Bollywood hadn’t fully explored before. It gave a much more sophisticated charm to the otherwise larger-than-life Hindi movie hero we were so used to seeing.The look still holds up today, still referenced in style edits and every ‘How to dress like a Bollywood hero’ listicle worth its salt. We’ve seen plenty of party looks, celebration outfits, and action-hero costumes from Hindi cinema, but this one was different. This one was made for cold campus mornings and poetry classes, not dance floors.
Sonam A Kapoor in ‘Delhi-6’ (2009)
Apparently, the song “Masakali” wasn’t even supposed to be in Delhi-6. Director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra added it last-minute as a narrative bridge, and yet it went on to outlive the film itself — largely thanks to a look nobody saw coming.
Sonam A Kapoor’s outfit was deceptively simple: a short, printed kurta with an embroidered yoke, paired with loose dhoti pants, oxidised earrings, and a stack of bangles. No sequins, no bling, just a very specific, very real Delhi-girl aesthetic, topped off, literally, with a white dove perched on her head.
What made the look iconic wasn’t just the outfit, it was the dove. Kapoor wore that headpiece like an accessory, not a prop, and it turned “Masakali” into one of the most visually recognisable songs of its decade. It worked because it went against the grain of what heroines usually wore on screen. Kapoor had already built a reputation for skipping the typical Swarovski saris and bikini blouses template Bollywood leaned on, and this song doubled down on that, proving a heroine could be memorable in a kurta and dhoti pants instead of the glam route.
Sushmita Sen in ‘Main Hoon Na’ (2004)
Of the many themes that Farah Khan’s debut so delightfully spoofed, the ‘hot-teacher look’ remains right at the top. From the second Sushmita Sen’s Chandni Chopra walks through those gates in the dreamy red saree, the movie in love with movies reclaims the desi elegance of the chiffon from the smutty eroticism of pop-cultural knockoffs. Sexy no longer felt impure, thanks in no small deal to the fashion-show-like staging of those perfectly draped low-waist saris and sleeveless blouses designed by none other than Manish Malhotra.
Trisha in ’96’ (2018)
Trisha in ’96’ (2018).
When Trisha stepped into the role of Janu in C. Prem Kumar’s ‘96, the film’s costume designer, Subhashree Kaarthik Vijay, made a decision that would outlast the film’s theatrical run by years: Janu’s plain yellow pin-tuck kurta and blue jeans look, with a casually draped blue stole. No flashy embellishment, no statement jewellery, nothing engineered to catch the eye.
That restraint became precisely what audiences couldn’t look away from. The look echoed something specific and instantly recognisable: the woman who left home young, built a life abroad, and returned changed but familiar. Within weeks of the film’s release, the outfit had a life far beyond the screen. Boutiques and textile shops across Tamil Nadu began stocking near-identical ensembles, many selling them explicitly as ‘the ’96 kurta’. The look became all the rage as Diwali rolled around and even prompted memes about its popularity. Janu’s outfit became the perfect girl-next-door silhouette that felt achievable, wearable, and personal, among popular cinema fashion otherwise leaning toward the glamorous.
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