When you see the beautifully made-up faces of actresses as they light up the screen with their million-watt expressions, it’s the handiwork of talented make-up professionals like Ojas Rajani. Exuberant and outspoken, she radiates an aura of happiness. One of the most sought-after make-up artists in Bollywood, she has done the makeup for over 236 films. Her first film was Rangeela where she had done the makeup for Urmila Matondkar. She has worked for most of the leading actresses such as Aishwarya Rai, Sushmita, Priyanka, Deepika, Katrina, Alia and others. She also has the distinction of being the only Indian make-up artist to do hair, make-up, costumes, styling and look consultancy for the past 30 years.

She calls herself the Queen of Weddings and is also the most sought-after for VIP weddings and her recent one was for Pinky Reddy from Hyderabad. Other million dollar weddings include Ambani’s daughter Nina Kothari’s daughter Nayantara’s wedding, Nishani of Apollo Hospitals and many more. She regularly does the make-up for Nita Ambani and Shloka Ambani. She has been running her own hair and makeup school in Mumbai for 15 years.

Ojas speaks to us on a variety of topics sharing her experiences. “My style statement has been very super minimal and natural beauty. Today, my makeup style is still the same. I do that very natural base, even the eyes, lip and cheek are very natural. You keep your style statement the same one that you like and which the world loves and that’s the USP for any makeup artist. I think you should always stick to what you are convinced about and what you feel is right now, fashions will come and go, you know. For instance, people wear red lipstick and perfectly, but I’ve never done that on my client.

“Deepika Padukone is one of the actresses who carries every look well be it a Western look or a Padmavathi look or an Indian look. Her makeup looks so natural yet glamorous In Pathan where she is in a bikini, her makeup is soft yet glam.

“Director Shankar had super faith in me and I have done over 12 films for him, Shreya Saran for Sivaji, Sada for Anniyan but Robot killed it all I think because it was the only film where I did 37 looks for a song, every song had 15 to 20 different looks.”

Ojas Rajani has done a lot of work for gorgeous Aishwarya Rai including multiple times for the Cannes Festival. She reveals, “Aishwarya has been one of my favourites, I was a nobody when I got my first Coca Cola ad with her. She never asked me for a trial even. If she wanted, she could have said. ‘I am sorry, I don’t know who you are.’”

“Having said that, I think this whole thing of looking fair and lovely like Aishwarya Rai is a big myth. Just looking fair does not make one beautiful, it’s the South that gives this so much importance. Look at Bipasha Basu, she’s so sexy. Naomi Campbell, they look way more sexy. In Robot, I had given Aishwarya Rai a dusky look and she looked far better than when she’s fair in the movie. I think love your skin, love yourself is most important.

“Parveen Babi and Zeenat Aman were the sex symbols of their days and had very good makeup whereas Jayaprada and Meenakshi Seshadri’s makeup was a disaster. When Sreedevi first came in, her makeup was horrendous but she groomed herself. When we saw her movies like Lamhe, she was a beauty queen.”

On being quizzed about the best looks she has created, she responded, “Katrina Kaif in Dhoom looked out-of-the-world, I have done several ads with Tara Sutaria and Palak Tiwari in the new generation. I have recently worked with Jhanvi Kapoor, she’s mind-blowing and reminds me a lot of Sridevi. She’s very experimental with the clothes, the look, she’s very loving and a favourite of all make-up artists. Sridevi would take blessings, that’s the kind of respect she gave people.”

We then move on to her experience with Miss World and how this opportunity knocked her doors. She says, “I have worked ten years in America where I did the Baywatch Series, Bold & The Beautiful and also worked with artistes like Mariah Carey and Jennifer Lopez. When The Miss World team came to India, the production team had already done their research on me. I had worked with all the Miss Indias – Sushmita, Dia Mirza, Neha Dhupia, Celina Jaitley, Lara Dutta to Miss World Aishwarya Rai.

“I am the only make-up artist to do the Miss World, me and my team were chosen to do it. They gave me a free hand in whatever we did whether it was the photoshoots or designer shows. Miss World who won the crown in 2024 just loved it, she said Ojas’ work is gorgeous. I think in a contest, the makeup of the contestants has to be uniform and soft. And in Miss World, I think the USP is about hair and I think I’m the Queen of Hair, the way I style, that bouncy blow dry, I don’t think anybody else can get it right. That really worked in my favour. Last August, I did the Dior show at Mumbai which made its debut in India.”

She is no fan of gaudy makeup and says, “Nobody can do black smokey eyes and red lip because you will end up looking like a whore on stage and not classy. There’s a very fine line between looking glamorous and ending up looking like a whore. If there is too much of heavy makeup, it really makes you look negative, then you look like a vamp. You have to make people understand.”

We asked her to share some of her expert tips. She says, “When I come to do your makeup, I first listen to you, what your style statement is, what you are looking for and then I will tell you, this is looking nice or not looking good.

“Understand your body type and wear clothes. What looks good on your friend may not look good on you. When you do your make up look in the mirror, click a few pictures, make the mirror your best friend. Less is more when it comes to makeup.

“Eyelashes are very big now, nice, soft doll-like eyelashes. Looks you see on social media or Instagram may not work for you, they are filtered and actresses most of them have had surgeries and you have to have that reality check with you. Look like a Barbie, very pleasing, very warm, very loving. Makeup instead of being extra fair should have a touch of pink and rosy-looking. Look at the Lux commercials, the look is always soft and pink, it’s very glam yet sensual.

“Use the natural corporate look at work. In today’s day and age if you are well dressed and groomed you will be treated well. What you see is what you get! When you wake up, do your makeup well and go to work, you have the confidence that you will do your work well. The day you wake up late, your face is looking puffy, you are irritated and at work also you are not happy. That’s a whole statement of mind. When you are looking good, you feel good and perform good. Everybody worships the sun not the moon.”

Her future plans include opening a grooming school in Mumbai with franchises all over India.