KJo to judge reality series for hairstylists; 12 in the fray

Mumbai, March 21 (IANS) The Indian hairdressing awards, which celebrates the art and skill of professional hairstyling, will be presented in an all-new format of a reality series, and will be judged by filmmaker Karan Johar.

The awards which are hosted by the hair tech brand, L'Oreal Professionnel will be aired in a five episodic series, which will be streaming on an OTT platform.

The awards, which have been held since 2014, recognises and rewards hairstylists across the country.

This year’s edition was announced in August 2023 and received over 100K entries for its theme 'Meta-morphosis' that represents real transformation.

From the thousands of hairdressers that participated in the competition, 89 regional finalists were chosen to compete on technical skills. They were judged by an eminent jury composed of international hair artists and beauty media representatives.

The top 12 hairstylists will now compete in a mega-augmented L’Oreal Professionnel salon.

The selected hairstylists are -- Abhishek Choubey (Looks Change Salon, Indore), Vandna Mishra (Vandna's Salon, Kanpur), Danish Nehal (A N John Salon, Kolkata), Sushil Kumar (Geetanjali Salon, New Delhi), Nasimuddin (Naseem Salon, New Delhi), Rashid Salmani (Studio 17 Salon, New Delhi), Ravinderpreet Singh (Looks Salon, New Delhi), Danish Verma (Tress Lounge, Chandigarh), Lovepreet Kumar (The Color Palette, Ludhiana), Nihal Rathore (Vurve Salon, Bengaluru), Priya Tekchandani (White Feather Salon and Academy, Mumbai), and Shital Bavaliya (Bonanza Beauty Lounge, Rajkot).

Judging their art and technique will be an illustrious panel featuring Karan Johar, Min Kim (L’Oreal Professionnel global colour ambassador), and an exciting line-up of Bollywood celebrities, which are yet to be announced.

The 12 hair pros will go through three challenges testing their skill and creativity to do real transformations through hair colour, haircut and styling.

Hairstylists will have to achieve the ultimate freedom of self-expression and propose bold, elevated and out-of-the-box looks.

These challenges will be scored by both judges and consumers.

The winner will also win a trip to Paris and an opportunity to enhance skills in Le Visionnaire, the prestigious L’Oreal academy in Paris.

It will stream on JioCinema.