What is common between Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham, Hrithik Roshan, Akshay Kumar, Saif Ali Khan and Emraan Hashmi? All right, we know you all will say that it’s so obvious they all are very successful actors of this generation. But there is one more noteworthy feature common to them and that is they all sport a stubble.

It seems the latest style mantra of film actors consists of sporting a rugged look (read stubbles). And with this new look they are also grabbing all the attention and achieving success in their endeavours. For instance, Abhishek Bachchan came a cropper with a clean-shaven look but once he switched over to the rugged look, he had lady luck smiling on him. And now he is one of the most sought after actors of the industry.

LT finds out as to what is it about the stubble that most of the leading actors of Bollywood find enticing...

Well-known make-up artist Ambika Pillai feels that girls like the ‘rough and tough’ look more than the clean-shaven look these days.

"Sporting a stubble gives a macho look. And girls like that look. Maybe that is the reason why most of the actors are going in for this look," opines Ambika.

And according to make-up artist Arun Gire, "Everything boils down to the way an actor looks on screen. And sporting a stubble gives an actor the hard masculine look, which looks nice on screen. John Abraham started sporting this look and he became popular with it. And going by that, others followed suit and became successful too."

But famous make-up artist Chhaya Momaya thinks otherwise. "There are very few make-up artists in the industry who are innovative enough to give actors different looks in different films. They probably have run out of ideas," avers Chhaya.

"Moreover, most of the stars dare to be different except one or two actors like Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan. If a certain look works for them in a movie, they shy away from doing away with it in their next, irrespective of the fact that the character they are playing demands a different look. But yes, a stubble definitely gives a more macho look," she adds.

In Bollywood, a clean-shaven face seems to be passé as very few actors go for that look. In Hollywood, stars like Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio and Orlando Bloom started the trend and made all other stars adopt a similar style.

So, does an actor himself decide what look he wants for his movie? No,says make-up artist Manzoor Khan, adding, "It’s totally a director’s call as to what look an actor will sport in the movie. If the role demands a harsh look, only then the actor sport a stubble in the film. We also do a lot of experimentation with the looks before finalising it prior to the start of the movie by doing photo sessions. Also, not everyone looks good sporting a stubble. A guy like Shahid Kapur will never look good in a stubble."

Agrees another make-up artist Ruhi Bindra of Chak De! India fame. "Shah Rukh Khan was seen sporting a stubble for the first time in the movie Chak De! India. Since he was playing a coach in the movie, the script demanded him to have a mature look. So it was not Shah Rukh, but the director Shimit Amin, who decided that he should sport a stubble in the movie," states Ruhi.