Making up with Mickey

Put a woman’s face in his hands and he will transform it. As soon as a star walks into the room, make-up artist and hair stylist Mehernosh Contractor (popularly known as Mickey) sees her face, her nails, her height, keeps her character in mind and, within the character, tries to make her look as pretty as possible: "When working on a film, I’m working on the same face for a hundred days. But every time I get a new face, I pray that I hope I get this face right, that I hope I’ll be able to live up to every­body’s expectations. I don’t want to let anybody down. I want to be perfect.” Contractor has worked on the faces of most Hindi film heroines, his favorite being Hema Malini.

He has also worked with producer-director Karan Johar, Yash Chopra, Rahul Rawail, Mahesh Bhatt on films such as Saath Saath, Rangeela, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Duplicate, Dil To Pagal Hai, Mohabattein, etc. As Best Make-Up Artist for the film Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, he won the 2002 IIFA (International Indian Film Academy) Award.

Contractor: the man behind make-ups

The latest path-breaking trend — the no make-up look — has changed the perception of make-up in the Hindi film industry. "I started this trend. In reality you are wearing all possible make-up on your face, but on screen it looks as if you haven’t worn anything! Kajol’s first film, Bekhudi, Aishwarya Rai’s first film, Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya, most of the Lux commercials starring actresses right from Juhi Chawla to Amisha Patel have carried off this look very well. They just love it,” says Contractor looking cool in his shorts, T-shirt, a diamond studded in his left ear and not to forget his bald pate. The challenge is to make actresses look less made-up, believable and yet beautiful unlike the caked-up look of actresses in old Hindi films.

After every single shot, he has to touch-up the heroine’s make-up: "Maintaining make-up throughout the day, patching it up and making it look even on the face is far difficult than doing make-up from scratch.” This comes by experience. When there is an outdoor shoot, the whole unit wakes up at 3 a.m. Work starts at 5 a.m. and carries on till 11 p.m.: "Once on location, we have to face the heat, the rain, anything that comes our way. Our bodies take a lot of beating. Often the toilets are unclean, the air conditioner does not function, the exhaust is no good, dust flies all around. We are constantly breathing the same air. The glamor arrives only when the premier takes place.”

"The contract with a producer can be either per film or per actress or per shift. My contracts change from producer to producer. This field is very lucrative, once you’ve made a name for yourself,” says Contractor. However, collecting dues also depends from production to production. It can take Contractor a week or even two months to get his money. He has also come across producers who have defaulted on payment.

There are quite a few make-up artists joining the profession. But Contractor doesn’t consider them his competitors. He’s probably the seniormost and has "very cordial relations” with all other artists since he knows them "at a personal level.”

The make-up artist was recently seen in the Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai show on Star Plus. The host was Farooque Sheikh, the personality being invited and reviewed was Rai and Contractor was one of the guests. What was revealed was that a model and actress of the stature of Rai, was most comfortable leaving her face in Contractor’s capable hands. He explains, "That’s because I was Mickey Contractor (a reputed name among make-up artists) at the time I started working on Aishwarya’s face, but Aishwarya had not made a name for herself. I’ve not only worked on most of her campaigns, but have also done her make-up, hair and clothes for her first film. She and some other actresses find me more of a father figure as I tend to evoke feelings of faith and trust in them.”

Bollywood stars Contractor has worked on (clockwise from top): Rai, Prabadevi aka Kher and Madhu Sapre. Bottom (left) with Kajol and her sister Tanisha during Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and (right) with Rani Mukherjee on the sets of Chalte Chalte

Contractor is highly respected in the film industry: "Parsis are honest, dress well, eat well, speak well, have good table manners, which is very hard to find in Bollywood. I’m known for my punctuality and commitment to my job. I hate people who are not punctual and who tell lies.” According to Contractor, he goes to work with "blinkers on” and has a "one-track mind.” But that is his dedication to the job and honesty to his profession. Small wonder he is recipient of the Kingfisher Award 2000 awarded to him by business tycoon and Rajya Sabha MP, Vijay Mallya.

The face that gave him instant fame was that of actor Anupam Kher. Contractor laughs: "I dressed him (put make-up and made Kher wear a turban with three strands of hair falling on his forehead) as heroine Sridevi’s sister, Prabha­devi, for a Cine Blitz cover. It was an April Fool joke, saying Sridevi’s sister Prabhadevi was found. In reality, Sridevi has only one sister, Sreelatha!”

Well-known photographer Gautam Rajadhyaksha, writes in his book, Faces: "I must mention Mickey Contractor, the stylist and make-up artist who has worked with me on several assignments, particularly those involving film stars. Each of us is the catalyst for the other and some of our best work has been the result of our collaboration.”

Getting bored of working as personal make-up artist and making up the same face everyday, he gave up movies for a long time and made a name for himself in the field of advertising. In 1985, he worked on his first ad — Close Up. The face he had to work on was Bhavna Munim’s, sister of actress, Tina Munim (Ambani). The stylist worked round the clock and got due recognition.

Contractor’s first passion was to become a hairdresser rather than a make-up artist in Bolly­wood: "I was always inclined to do something with hair. I adored Helen’s big hairstyles... associated with glamor... I went to college only to make my mom (Soonoo) happy. After six months I clearly told her that I wanted to take up hairstyling as a profession. She was willing to give me the money to do a course with aesthetician Dinyar Working­boxwalla on the condition that I return the amount to her in a year’s time. If not, I would’ve had to revert to studies.” Workingboxwalla taught Contractor some basic hairstyles, apart from waxing and bleaching. All he earned was tips from clients, amounting approximately Rs 400 per month. However, he managed to return the money to his mother within a few months. Had he failed, would Contractor have reverted to studies? More importantly, would he have made a name for himself? "No way,” says the artist emphatically, "I would have done dress designing or tailoring or catering but would have never reverted to studies.”

Born on October 6, 1961, Contractor comes from a separated family. Soonoo, now retired, worked for Geoffrey Manners in the Quality Control Department and father Minoo, who died in May 1993, was employed with the Indian Western Railways. Since the time he was two, Contractor was brought up by his maternal grandmother Shirin Talati in Bombay. As a child, he was very docile and calm. An average student, he was not interested in studies. After passing his SSC from the Dadar Parsee Youths Assembly High School in 1976, he was forced to take up science in Bhavan’s College.

In 1978 Contractor joined the Tokyo Beauty Parlour at Warden Road to learn advanced hairstyling. He reminisces: "Helen used to be a regular customer there. One day she inquired about my hobbies and asked me what I’d like to become in life. I said that I loved travelling and that I’d like to be associated with movies doing different hairstyles for actresses. She encouraged me to join the film industry.”

The family is a priority: with wife Meher and children Yohan (right) and Bianca

No sooner did Contractor feel a little confident of joining the industry, he lost all interest in getting a certificate in hairdressing from the Tokyo Beauty Parlour. In fact till date he doesn’t have one. He realized that, according to the rules of the Cine Costume and Make-up Artists Association, only female hairdressers and male make-up artists are allowed in Bollywood. Since he wanted to join the industry, he had to learn make-up. He learnt the technique on the job itself.

He approached Pandhari Juker, a popular make-up artist in those days, who took him on as one of his approximately 50 assistants who work­ed in groups of threes for different films. On his first day of shooting for the film Kranti, Contractor had to simply pay attention to Juker’s assistants at work. The first few faces he worked on were those of B-Grade extras for a historical film, Raajmata, his first outdoor shoot in Rajasthan. The make-up to be done was very garish and heavy. Clarifies Contractor: "It’s a misconception that extras are easy. They come from very good homes.”

In 1981, a film, Formula Z, was being made in Hyderabad. The producer had appointed Juker as make-up artist. Since the outdoor shooting was decided in a hurry, Juker was not free and requested Contractor to do the job. During the course of the shoot, he met Preity Ganguly (daughter of the late actor Ashok Kumar), Dilip Dhawan (producer) and Alpana Chaudhry (dancer-cum-character actress). Later, he became personal make-up artist to Chaudhry, Sheikh, Kiran Vairale, Akbar Khan, and others. But Contractor enjoyed doing make-up for women rather than for men: "On a man’s face there’s nothing to do. You just put foundation on their face. Besides, I dislike men wearing make-up.” Contractor has worked on his own and as helper to various make-up artists in Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi, Bhojpuri, Malayalam and Telugu films. His work was well appreciated by producers and film stars alike.

He feels comfortable using his own make-up. Prefering foreign brands to Indian ones, the artist says: "Unfortunately, most of the Indian brands are not waterproof. They are neither durable nor hypoallergenic (allergy-tested). Besides, I don’t like the texture of Indian products.” For foundation, he uses the brand Kryolan, for loose powder, Clinique, blusher Bourjois, eye pencil Chambor, eyeliner Channel or Bobby Brown, eye shadow Channel or Mac or any other foreign brand, mascara Lancom, and Mac is his favorite brand of lipstick. He’s not keen on any particular brand of lip pencil and never uses a compact. Most foreign brands are available at Beauty Centre, Crawford Market. But what would he recommend for ordinary mortals? Contractor clarifies: "Any Indian brand is good for day-to-day use, but not for the screen. It’s too hot to wear foundation in this country, especially during the day. Just wear a compact, blusher, mascara and lipstick.”

Mixing his personal life with his professional life is not Contractor’s credo. In spite of working on so many faces, he does not like to see make-up on his wife, Meher, to the extent that he did not allow her to wear make-up even on their wedding day: "She looks beautiful the way she is. I’m so fed up of seeing made-up faces that when I come home, I want to see a well-scrubbed, natural face. This is my home, that’s my profession.”

Mickey and Meher are first cousins who fell in love and got married in 1994. Formerly working in the accounts department of BPCL, Meher is now a housewife who keeps track of her husband’s appointments, takes care of his finances and other paper work. The couple have two children, elder son Yohan and younger daughter, Bianca, both studying in Bombay International School. When in Bombay, Contractor’s first priority is his family. He makes it a point to spend at least 10 days in a month with his family. He has learnt Indian classical vocal music, does painting and enjoys watching late night English movies.

A religious-minded person he prays every day without fail. The dakhme­nashini controversy does hound him, occasionally: "I wouldn’t be surprised if I myself go in for electric cremation. If there would be vultures, then it would be a fabulous way to go.”

Sadly, smoking is a vice, which he knows he has to stop. Just as he is able to accept his own shortcoming he feels that those plagued with skin trouble should seek treatment. He advises them not "to conceal skin flaws by wearing make-up.” No, he would not like to gloss over!