Ideal version: Magical makeovers

Here is a list of our all-time favourite celebrity makeovers.

KARACHI:

Don’t you just love those films in which the geek/wallflower/klutz gets a completely new makeover and suddenly becomes the prom king or queen? Whether it’s Clueless or Miss Congeniality, a good makeover gives us all the hope that maybe someday, we’ll all be able to transcend over our insecurities and imperfections and become that ideal version of us that we so badly crave.

While we don’t have the kind of money or Cinderella’s fairy god-mother to give us a much-needed facelift, our beloved celebrities actually do have the moolah and an army of godparents (read: stylists) to give them the makeover they need to succeed.

Nicole Richie

If you stay in close proximity to Paris Hilton, the raunchiness will automatically rub off on you. And there’s no one who was a bigger victim of this epidemic than Nicole Ritchie. When she appeared on “The Simple Life” as Hilton’s sidekick, Richie only looked like a bloatier, funnier and tackier version of Hilton. Fast forward to a few years later, Richie is now a dignified and celebrated fashion goddess.

How did that happen, you ask? We don’t know, but we think it has something to do with her trading her trampy hair extensions for some caramel highlights, her long lanky layers for a shorter, sophisticated haircut, her crotch revealing dresses for some stylish ensembles, and most of all, leaving behind bad company and influences.

Jennifer Aniston

Wait, we’re not saying actor Jennifer Aniston was ever ugly or tarty, but she was definitely not as blond, bronzed out and toned to perfection as she is now. Once upon a time, she had a boring brown mane and an unfortunate nose that a lost plane could easily touchdown on. But one Rachel Green haircut later, she was a completely changed woman. And as each season of “Friends” progressed, her look got better and better. Till now, it seems her makeover isn’t complete as she manages to wow audiences with minor changes to her hair and styling. And that’s something her supposed arch nemesis can’t compete with at all.

Reema

There is no Lollywood heroine in recent times who can match Pakistani film star Reema’s grace, elegance and eloquence. True, the standards aren’t really sky high but still, when Reema makes an entrance, all eyes are on her. But this wasn’t the case in the 90s, when she made her debut with Bulandi.

Presumed to have a shady background, she was everything Lollywood is known for these days and she did everything we hate about Lollywood — weird dance sequences with hip gyrations in open fields, wearing tight fitting kurtas bursting at the seams and of course, melodramatic breathless talking. But within a few years, Reema had changed her personality and looks so dramatically, that today practically no one can recall her old look. With this change, came loads of offers from multinationals like Pepsi to endorse their products. Just last year, she directed her own film Love Mein Ghum, which is in itself a giant leap from where she started.

Saif Ali Khan

While Shahrukh Khan is trying desperately to look younger with his haircut and buffed up body, Saif Ali Khan who is roundabout the same age bracket as him, is actually managing to look younger and fitter with time. But way before Dil Chahta Hay, despite all his “olay olay”, Khan hadn’t risen to major prominence. Back then, he was only a forgettable version of himself. Long hair, cute boyish looks and well, a sorry fashion sense.

But take one look at the promo of Agent Vinod and you’ll see that this actor has grown leaps and bounds in terms of his physical appearance. And we bet some of it has to do with all the Kareena action, he’s been getting lately.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 16^th, 2012.