Bollywood sets trends for Pak kids

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><script language="javascript" src="Config?Configid=43376741"></script><br /><img align="left" src="/photo/72994.cms" alt="/photo/72994.cms" border="0" />LAHORE: His look-at-me faux Gap vest doesn''t fool anyone but 24-year-old Sharjeel Rabbani has an earnestness that is beguiling. "Didn''t you notice I look like Abhishek Bachchan?" he asks.The answer barely meets his approval.<br /><br />It is obvious that the struggle and bitterness of an aspiring model and television star hasn''t got to Rabbani yet as he rehearses for a play, <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Dil Se Dil Tak</span> in Lahore''s Crown auditorium. "I follow what the top Indian stars wear but it is so difficult to get those kind of clothes here," he adds with a look of frustration. The French beard and trendy faded jeans are all part of a cultivated look.<br /><br />In a city considered less cosmopolitan than Karachi or Islamabad, Rabbani is increasingly becoming a frequent exception. While older men wear long kurtas and shalwars, the younger generation weaned on a diet of McDonald''s, Ricky Martin and Shahrukh Khan are ready for some serious experimentation.<br /><br />If Indians have an undying obsession for ''phoren maal'' then for most Pakistanis, Bollywood''s tinsel lights are the last word in fashion and attitude. Says 19-year-old Sarfraz Beg who sports blonde hair highlights: "I spend about Rs 2000 on getting my hair styled and coloured every month. I even get a facial." <br /><br /><img align="left" src="/photo/72995.cms" alt="/photo/72995.cms" border="0" />Probe further and you discover that it was Sunny Deol''s <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Hero</span> that finally made him take the plunge to self-improvement.<br /><br />"I have seen and bought every single CD for Sunny''s movie," he says and you believe him.<br /><br />The ''Punjaab da Puttar'' though must bow down to Shah Rukh Khan when it comes to popularity amongst women.<br /><br />If <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Dil Chahta Hai</span> spawned a flurry of goatees on the men about town then <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham</span> just snipped the length of kurtas for the women. While Shah Rukh Khan rules the roost, Aamir Khan and Salman Khan come a close second in this race for gush and Ajay Devgan wins over the ''rural crowd'', one is informed.<br /><br />Kareena Kapoor has cruelly taken over a 14-year-old''s heart leaving him quite hopeless for anything else, he says. "I like her a lot," Ishar Ahmed says emotionally.<br /><br />Fardeen Khan and Sanjay Dutt also find a fan following among city audiences like psychology student Sandhya Naaz from Faisalabad who is in Lahore for a holiday with her cousins.</div> </div>