Deepika Padukone's dramatic short haircut will convince you to go for a chop

While longer, darker strands are customary during winter, Deepika Padukone turned seasonality on its head with a sunny new haircut and colour

Traditionally, the onset of party and wedding season marks a rise in the popularity of longer, darker strands, but Deepika Padukone isn’t one to follow the norm. Her long lengths (usually styled in buns, ponytails or loose waves) have become a bit of a signature beauty look for the actor. But this past weekend, she switched it up with her shortest haircut in years: a shoulder-skimming chop with cooler, blonde highlights framing her face. Padukone debuted the new look on Instagram, and captioned the snap, “Tadaaaaa!!!💁🏽‍♀️”

As usual, Ranveer Singh commented on his wife’s picture almost immediately, writing “Maar doh mujhe”. Even Alia Bhatt, who traded her long locks for a similar lob haircut back in 2017, commented: “Omg beauty!!!”.

Proving that lobs don’t have to be high maintenance, Padukone styled her hair straight with blunt ends—a cool-girl signature that doesn’t need much heat styling or product. The finger-raked side part only underscored the insouciance further. Soon after her Instagram post, Padukone took her new hairdo out for a spin on the Star Screen Awards red carpet, giving it a completely new look. Hairstylist Gabriel Georgiou styled the hair into big curls, maintaining the side part and leaving the lighter, cheekbone-grazing pieces in the front—verifying that the haircut looks just as good on the red carpet as it does at home in PJs.

It’s been a big year for haircut switch-ups, and most of your favourite celebrities have gone shorter. Anushka Sharma went for a shaggy bob, while Kareena Kapoor Khan chose a shoulder-length lob for her upcoming film, Angrezi Medium. Across the pond, Kim Kardashian West, Kaia Gerber and Jennifer Lopez made the case for a pre-NYE chop as well.