Can someone explain the whole hair issue

I can help you with this. The first thing you have to understand is, like almost everything in India, this custom is less "Indian" based and more "religion" based. The Indians in the movie Breakaway subscribe to a specific religion called Sikhism that is based out of the north Indian state of Punjab, although they have very large representations in Toronto and Vancouver CA, California and New York in the US, and London, England. Sikhism, like most religions, carries with it certain mandates, which are referred to as the 5 k's. I won't go into all of them, just the one's you referenced. Wearing a turban (actual name is paag) is required by the religion for baptized males, and encouraged but not required for females. Almost every male in the entire world you see wearing a turban will be Sikh (very few Arabs wear turbans). The "doorag" you referenced (and I can't remember it's actual name) is typically worn by male children until they are old enough to get their first turban, which happens at baptism. That being said, some men who wish to not wear the turban may continue to wear this as an alternative into adultood. In some cases this is done when wearing a turban just won't work for some reason, or as a lifestyle choice. In the movie, some of the men were wearing it probably because I have to imagine wearing a turban while playing hockey is probably pretty difficult. It's not exactly approved of, but more liberal communities in the United States, England, and Canada more or less look the other way so long as the dude is wearing something. The white buns they are wearing at home, in private, are acceptable for things like sleeping... it keeps the hair up and out of the face. To the best of my knowledge, it's not required to keep your head covered in your home (and head covering is the actual reason for all of this), and is obviously not done during activities like showering. It's mostly a point of utility because... they are not, in any circumstance, allowed to cut their hair. Keeping your hair is one of the k's (kesh). They cannot cut their hair, shave their beards or remove any body hair whatsoever. This applies in theory to both men and women (which is why sometimes you will see some of their women with facial hair). In actual practice, most women will really only adhere to keeping the hair on their head uncut (it's not terribly uncommon for Sikh women to have hair down to their lower back), especially in the west. AS the movie states, men who cut their hair face a complicated situation. their are many reasons a baptized male Sikh will cut his hair, but its almost always met with dissaproval, even in liberal communities. One final point, you may have noticed rob lowe wearing an orange head covering during the wedding. Much as how any person visiting a Jewish temple must wear a yarmulka, any individual regardless of race or religion must wear a head covering (and take off shoes) when visiting a Gurudwara (Sikh temple). AS I said before, all of those rituals are designed to cover the head, not just to wear a hat for the sake of wearing it.I admit I have no idea how or why this started, but if I had to guess I'd say it has to do with the fact that the Sikhs are a warrior religion, and all that hair probably gets in the way while fighting. Hope this helps. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.