Hair India

From sacred offering to global beauty commodity

Hair India follows the extraordinary journey of a young Indian woman’s hair as it moves through a global circuit shaped by faith, labour and beauty. The film begins in a Hindu temple, where an Indian woman shaves her head as part of a sacred ceremony. This act of devotion is performed without knowledge of where her hair will ultimately go, or how it will be transformed once it leaves the temple.

From this intimate religious gesture, the documentary traces the hair’s path across India and beyond. In a village in the federal state of West Bengal, Gita offers her medium length hair at the temple because she has no money or jewellery to give to the god. By cutting her hair, she earns the respect of her entire village, and the proceeds help her parents pay for her younger brother’s eye operation, which costs forty dollars. For Gita, her hair is the most valuable thing she possesses.

The journey continues to Bangalore, where rows of women sit in workshops processing piles of hair into carefully prepared tresses. These are then sold to beauty salons around the world. In Mumbai, the film introduces Sangeeta, a successful businesswoman who chats with celebrities while having hair extensions applied in an elegant salon. Her new hair represents status, beauty and professional success.

The trail finally reaches Rome, where Thomas works at Great Lengths, a major international company distributing hair extensions worldwide and supplying film stars with long, costly locks worth thousands of dollars. Through the observations of filmmakers Raffaele Brunetti and Marco Leopardi, the camera moves from the temple of Simachalan to Bangalore, Bombay and Europe, revealing one branch of the global beauty economy rooted in religious sacrifice.

Rather than offering a simple portrait of India and its contradictions, the film weaves together its characters into a single chain of exchange. The strands of hair become a powerful symbol of class tension, labour exploitation and unequal value. For some, hair is an act of faith. For others, it is a luxury accessory. For many, it is a means of survival in a globalised world.