When a show like The Family Man returns, expectations are sky-high. But this time, the buzz began even before the trailer, all thanks to Jaideep Ahlawat's dramatic transformation. The long hair, the man bun, the rugged intensity, fans instantly wanted to know how this new antagonist was crafted. And as it turns out, the story behind the look is far simpler, funnier, and far more accidental than anyone expected.
In a chat with NDTV, The Family Man co-creator DK reveals that, unlike the usual process of endless look tests, experiments, and trials, Jaideep's final look took shape in the most unexpected way: through a picture casually sitting on his own Instagram page.
“It's basically a picture,” DK says, laughing. “One of the pictures from his Insta page at some point of his life. We were thinking of Jaideep, and the last time we had seen him was as Hathiram — the cop look. That's the one look we knew we didn't want. We needed him to look the exact opposite of Hathiram. And then someone from my team found this picture and shared it. The moment we saw it, we just knew — this is the look.”
There were no further discussions, no alternatives, no second guesses. “When I met him, I showed him the picture and said, ‘We will give you this look.' I don't know what he was thinking at that point. I think he was thinking, ‘God! I need to grow my hair again.'”
Jaideep confirms that that was exactly his first thought. “God, this will take really long to grow,” he remembers. And that's when reality kicked in, schedules, shooting timelines, and, of course, hair physics. Growing it out wasn't an option.
“So then after some discussion, it was decided we will try wigs,” Jaideep says. “I hate wigs, to be honest. It's a pain, and I sweat a lot, so it's double the pain.”
DK can't resist pulling his leg. “The curse of having a lot of hair, you complain about sweat!” he jokes.
Jaideep adds, “You can't play with it, it can come off basically. It restricts your movement. But if it looks good, then we try to manage it.”
At one point during our conversation, he even dug out the original picture that started it all. “It's from 2021, in Ooty,” he says proudly. “I was shooting Bloody Brothers. If I would have had my real hair, mazaa hi aajata. In every scene, I would have kept opening it and tying it back.”
The wig may have been a compromise, but the final result is already becoming one of the most talked-about transformations of the year. And for a show that thrives on reinvention, secrecy, and surprises, Jaideep Ahlawat's man-bun antagonist fits right in.
