Titanic was released in December of 1997. Many Hollywood insiders and naysayers predicted
doom for the film. After all, it had cost a record $200 million to produce; the story
had been told on film more than once; everyone already knew the ending; and the film really
had no “big stars” to draw in the crowds. (Originally the lead role was to go to Mathew
McConaughey to provide the “star power”, but director James Cameron and Kate Winslet
both pushed for DiCaprio to get the role.)
After making a good, but not incredible, $28 million in its opening weekend, momentum (and
great word of mouth) quickly set in. Titanic soon set a “never to be broken” highest
grossing film record (that was in fact soon to be broken by Avatar). It was the number
one film at the box office an unbelievable 15 weeks in a row. Titanic eventually grossed
a record $600 million in the United States alone in its first run. It became the first
movie to gross over $1 billion worldwide and after the recent 3D release is up to $2.185
billion, making it just the second film over $2 billion with Avatar (though, when adjusting
for inflation and ticket prices of the day films were released, Titanic is only considered
the 5th highest grossing film of all time).
It wasn’t just a hit in the Western world though, something about Titanic tugged at
the heartstrings of Afghan boys in a way no other American love story ever had. Previous
to this, most Hollywood movies that made it big in Afghanistan were almost exclusively
action movies, with Rambo III probably holding the title for most popular American movie
in Afghanistan, being “dedicated to the brave Mujahideen ﬁghters of Afghanistan”.
Despite the Taliban’s strict ban on American cinema, VHS copies of Titanic flooded Kabul’s
black markets.
Titanic-mania swept the country and had a resurgence after the Taliban were removed.
Before the crackdown (and after the government was overthrown), posters of the film could
be seen hanging on countless Afghan walls. Even extra-large vegetables, from tomatoes
to cucumbers, started to be referred to as “Titanic Vegetables”. There was also “Titanic
Mosquito Killer”, “Titanic Body Spray”, “Titanic Toothpaste”, “Titanic Sandals”,
“Titanic Wedding Cakes”… you get the idea.
One fabric seller in Kabul, Ali Ahmad, states, “Still everyone plays Titanic. Because the
story is good. It’s a real story. That’s why people still like it. And the love parts
— that’s what we like.”
But alarm bells didn’t start going off for the country’s fundamentalist government
until teenage boys started emerging from downtown barbershops sporting DiCaprio-style “Titanic
haircuts”. This incited the rage of the Taliban and soon the police started cracking
down.
Numerous teens and at least 30 barbers were arrested because of the DiCaprio cut, others
were simply beaten and forced to shave their heads. Because of this, many Afghan boys sporting
the new cut took to wearing hats, caps, or turbans to hide their manes when they were
in public. Older young men (yep, I just wrote that) actually grew beards to try to blend
in better while sporting their “Titanic” cuts.
Brave barber Aminullah Nazif, who never actually saw the film, was not to be dissuaded though
and started giving the Titanic cut in secret, with the first customer he had who requested
it showing him a Leo DiCaprio postcard and asking to be given the “Titanic” cut.
Nazif became a popular “underground barber” among Titanic-loving male teenage customers,
with many of his customers arranging to meet at his shop late at night to get their Titanic
cuts.
As one 16 year old, Nawid Mirkhail, who got the Titanic cut, but then was forced to have
it shaved off said, “I like the hairstyle of the film star… He was a handsome boy.
And he looked very handsome with that haircut.”
While every movie star is probably at some point flattered by imitations of himself (or
herself), DiCaprio may well be the only movie star in history whose followers risked a physical
beating and potential arrest for imitating his hair style.