Biryaniwalla Majid Khan gets a makeover.
The moment we spotted Majid making biryani at a shop in east Delhi, we knew he was model material. Majid thought it was a joke when we told him that we wanted to do a shoot with him. He is not used to attention. Despite his good looks, height and physique, customers address him as ‘oye chhotu’. ‘Chal ek plate biryani laga’ is what he gets to hear throughout the day.
Life’s tough for the 23-year-old. Majid slogs till 2am and returns to work at 7am. He earns `7,000 a month that he sends to his family. He doesn’t have a phone and doesn’t get to watch TV. He is the son of a daily wage labourer from Haldwani, Uttarakhand. He came to Delhi five months ago looking for work. He lives in a slum in a poky little room along with other workers. (Shara Ashraf/HT Photo)
It wasn’t easy to convince Majid to shoot for us. He was unwilling to believe that he could be a model. “I don’t know anything about modeling. You can ask me about biryani,” he told us innocently.
Majid met us for an early morning shoot. He had just an hour to spare as he had to rush to work. It was still dark when we took Majid to the salon for a quick makeover. The hairstylist gave him a smart undercut and a beard trim.
“Lipstick powder mat lagana please!,” Majid pleaded nervously when the makeup artist took out her brushes. It’s a little touch up for the camera, we explained, and he consented.
Initially, Majid behaved awkwardly at the shoot. He was extremely shy, he would suddenly break into a laughter or he would just not look into the camera. We had to quickly teach him how to pose, the kind of expressions to give and how to make his body language confident.
Majid has found a new hope. He wants to get into modeling. “Bade khawab nahi dekhna chaahta...lekin ek baar koshish zarur karunga (I don’t want to dream big...but I’ll certainly try once),” he says. You’ll meet him again in our New Year fashion special. He has made a modest beginning, but it’s a courageous one.
The moment we spotted Majid making biryani at a shop in east Delhi, we knew he was model material. Majid thought it was a joke when we told him that we wanted to do a shoot with him. He is not used to attention. Despite his good looks, height and physique, customers address him as ‘oye chhotu’. ‘Chal ek plate biryani laga’ is what he gets to hear throughout the day.
Life’s tough for the 23-year-old. Majid slogs till 2am and returns to work at 7am. He earns `7,000 a month that he sends to his family. He doesn’t have a phone and doesn’t get to watch TV. He is the son of a daily wage labourer from Haldwani, Uttarakhand. He came to Delhi five months ago looking for work. He lives in a slum in a poky little room along with other workers. (Shara Ashraf/HT Photo)
It wasn’t easy to convince Majid to shoot for us. He was unwilling to believe that he could be a model. “I don’t know anything about modeling. You can ask me about biryani,” he told us innocently.
Majid met us for an early morning shoot. He had just an hour to spare as he had to rush to work. It was still dark when we took Majid to the salon for a quick makeover. The hairstylist gave him a smart undercut and a beard trim.
“Lipstick powder mat lagana please!,” Majid pleaded nervously when the makeup artist took out her brushes. It’s a little touch up for the camera, we explained, and he consented.
Initially, Majid behaved awkwardly at the shoot. He was extremely shy, he would suddenly break into a laughter or he would just not look into the camera. We had to quickly teach him how to pose, the kind of expressions to give and how to make his body language confident.
Majid has found a new hope. He wants to get into modeling. “Bade khawab nahi dekhna chaahta...lekin ek baar koshish zarur karunga (I don’t want to dream big...but I’ll certainly try once),” he says. You’ll meet him again in our New Year fashion special. He has made a modest beginning, but it’s a courageous one.
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