| Item number | |
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| Cultural origins | Bollywood songs |
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| Indian cinema | |
| Local scenes | |
| Hindi, Tamil and Telugu cinema | |
| Other topics | |
| List of item numbers in Indian cinema | |
An item number or an item song, (Hindi: आइटम नंबर, Tamil: குத்தாட்டப் பாடல்) in Indian cinema, is a musical performance that has little to do with the film in which it appears, but is presented to showcase beautiful dancing women in very revealing clothes, to lend support to the marketability of the film.[1] The term is commonly used in connection with Hindi, Tamil and Telegu cinema, to describe a catchy, upbeat, often sexually provocative dance sequence for a song in a movie.[2] However, the term as understood in Bollywood parlance has entered the Kathmandu entertainment industry scenario as well. Item numbers are usually added to Indian movies in order to generate publicity[1] by featuring them in the trailers. Item numbers are favoured by filmmakers for the reason that since they do not add to the plot, they afford the filmmakers with the opportunity to pick potential hit songs from the stocks.[3] It is thus a vehicle for commercial success which ensures repeat viewing.[4]
A female actor, singer or dancer, especially someone who is poised to become a star, who appears in an item number is known as an item girl. There are item boys as well.[1] However, second generation South Asian females are more commonly featured in item numbers than males.[5][6] Item numbers usually feature one or more persons other than the lead actors. Sometimes established female and male actors will lend a "special appearance" to an item number.
Although, the origin of the term "item number" is obscure, it is likely that it derives its meaning from objectification of sexually attractive women. This is because item in filmy Mumbai slang is a sexy woman.[3] The classic meaning of "item number" refers to highly sexualized songs with racy imagery and suggestive lyrics. The "item number" would feature an "item girl" who appeared in the film as a dancer, usually in a bar or nightclub, and was only in the film for the length of that song. It was often frowned upon at that point in time.
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Item number was introduced in Bollywood by Vyjayanthimala and Padmini, however the former was the one who establish the item numbers in films.[7] She introduced semi-classical dance in her film that featuring her. Some of her famous songs which predated the concept of item number are "Man dole mera tan dole" from Nagin, "Ab Aage Teri Marzi" and "O Jaanewale Ruk Jaa" from Devdas,[8] "Kaho Ji Tum Kya Kya Kharidoge" from Sadhna,[9] "Chadh Gayo Paapi Bichhua" from Madhumati, "Neele Gagan Ki Chaoon Tale" from Amrapali and "Hothon pe aisi baat" from Jewel Thief.[7] Besides that, her dance number with Padmini in "Kannum Kannum Kalanthu" and "Aaja To Aaja" from Vanjikottai Valiban and "Raj Tilak" respectively were critically acclaimed,[10] where the popularity of the songs surpasses the popularity of the films[10] and was regarded as the best dance sequence in Indian cinema,[11] similarly her dance number with Helen in "Aaye Haaye Dilruba" and "Muqabala Humse Naa Karo" from Dr. Vidya and Prince respectively was also popular.[12] Her dance number was still adored by actresses, such as Hema Malini[13] and Madhuri Dixit,[14] choreographers, such as Prabhu Deva[15] and Saroj Khan.[16]
Up to the 1970s, Bollywood often relied on the figure of the vamp, usually a cabaret dancer, or a tawaif (prostitute) or a gangster's moll, to provide sexually explicit musical entertainment. While the heroine too did sing and dance, it was the vamp who wore more revealing clothes, smoked, drank and sang in bold terms of sexual desire.[3] She was portrayed not as being wicked but as the naughty, sexually alluring, immodest woman, erotic in her dance performances. The trend was started by Chuckoo in films like Aan (1952) and Shabistan (1951).[17]
Helen was by far the most popular vamp of that era,[18] having had performed in scores of item numbers including such popular songs as "Mera Naam Chin-Chin Choo" from the film Howrah Bridge (1958), "Piya Tu Ab To Aaja" from Caravan (1971), "Mehbooba Mehbooba" from Sholay (1975) and "Yeh Mera Dil" from Don (1978). In films like Gunga Jumna and Zindagi the actor performed semi-classical Indian dances in songs like "Tora man bada paapi" and "Ghungarwa mora chham chham baaje". A desi bar number, "Mungra Mungra" from Inkaar was also immensely popular. In addition to her skillful dancing, her anglicised looks too helped further the vamp image.[19]
Zeenat and I had full-fledged roles right from our first films. They might not have been pivotal roles, but they weren't item-songs and dance numbers either. We were the only ones who broke the trend of the archetypal heroine's role, and even carried off roles of modern dancers in clubs during an age where the audiences' [sic] weren't exposed to such things.
In the early part of the 1970s actresses Bindu, Aruna Irani and Padma Khanna entered into what was Helen's monopoly. Thereafter, Zeenat Aman and Parveen Babi too entered the arena.[19] Both Aman and Babi have been credited for bringing the Western heroine look to Hindi cinema.[20][21] Female actors such as her have brought about modernity with their portrayal of westernised liberated young women. Another noted feature of this era was the "tribal and banjara" item numbers such as the one in the Dharmendra, Zeenat Aman and Rex Harrison starer Shalimar. Such songs provided the necessary settings for the lead couple's love to bloom.[22]
Around the 1980s the vamp and the heroine merged into one figure and the lead actress had begun to perform the bolder numbers. The vampy item girls were thus outpaced by the heroines performing item numbers.[3] This eventual demise of the vamp marked the increasing social acceptance of sexually explicit dancing for the morally respected heroine.[24]
The craze for "tribal and banjara" item numbers were soon gave way to slick choreography.[22] In the late 1990s, with the proliferation of film songs based television shows, film producers had come to realise that an exceptional way to entice audiences into theaters was by spending excessively on the visualization of songs. Hence regardless of the theme and plot, an elaborate song and dance routine involving spectacularly lavish sets, costumes, special effects, extras and dancers would invariably be featured in a film. It was asserted that this contributed highly to the film's "repeat value".[25]
Madhuri Dixit is often considered to be the pioneer of the modern trend. In the late 1980s, the song "Ek Do Teen" was added to the movie Tezaab as an afterthought, but it transformed Dixit and made her a superstar.[25] Her partnership with choreographer Saroj Khan has resulted in numerous hits including the controversial "Choli ke peeche kya hai" and "Dhak dhak" (Beta).[26] Soon after the release of the film Khalnayak, there were press reports stating that people were seeing the film again and again but only till the song "Choli ke peeche kya hai" that featured Dixit.[25]
Although there have been many songs that fit the descriptions of item numbers in the early and mid-1990s, the term itself was coined when Shilpa Shetty danced for "Main Aai Hoon UP Bihar Lootne" in the movie Shool. This is perhaps the first time the media actually referred to Shetty as an "item girl" and the scene as an "item number".[27]
Many top stars in Bollywood now do item numbers, and many new women entering Bollywood find item numbers a more amenable shortcut to success, as opposed to more traditional roles with no guarantee of eventual stardom. Former item girls in pop songs outside films, Rakhi Sawant and Meghna Naidu, for example, are now quite in demand and very popular. Today, they are even being given lead roles in commercially successful movies. As of 2007, Mallika Sherawat has become the most expensive "Item Girl", as she charged Rs. 15 million (roughly US$375,000) for the song "Mehbooba Mehbooba" in Aap Ka Suroor - The Real Love Story. Actress Urmila Matondkar is one of the most successful item girls. She was featured in "Chamma Chamma" in the 1998 film China Gate. Baz Luhrmann's 2001 film musical, Moulin Rouge! used a westernized version of this song.
Malaika Arora Khan and Yana Gupta are "official" item number dancers. They have said they don't want to act in movies since they earn sufficient amount of money by just doing one song.
Abhishek Bachchan became the first "item boy" with his performance in Rakht; Shahrukh Khan also performed an item number during the opening credits of Kaal but had an item number in the true sense of the word with "Dard-e-Disco" in the Farah Khan directed Om Shanti Om, where he was shot in typical "item girl" manner with bare six pack abs. However the number did have a meaning within the plot. He also performed an item number for the recently released movie Krazzy 4. Also in Krazzy 4, Hrithik Roshan has an item number during the end credits. Now, the son of legendary Bollywood stars Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh, Ranbir Kapoor, is making his debut in an item number in the 2011 movie, Chillar Party. The song draws inspiration from Rishi Kapoor's Quawalli song "Parda" from Amar Akbar Anthony.
Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone are featured in three different songs in Red Chillies Entertainment's 2009 film Billu. The items are justified as part of a film within a film.
In the 2007 film Om Shanti Om, the song "Deewangi Deewangi" had guest appearances by over 30 Bollywood stars. In 2008, the makers of Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi featured Kajol, Bipasha Basu, Lara Dutta, Priety Zinta, and Rani Mukerji playing as five classic leading ladies, opposite Shahrukh Khan on the song "Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte".
In 2010, Katrina Kaif featured in "Sheela Ki Jawani" in Tees Maar Khan, and Malaika Arora Khan featured in "Munni Badnam" in Dabangg.
In 2011, Mallika Sherawat featured in "Jalebi Bai" in Double Dhamaal and "Razia" in Thank You, while Deepika Padukone featured in "Mit Jaaye Gham" in Dum Maaro Dum and Zarine Khan had "Character Dheela" from Ready to her credit. Yana Gupta also made a guest appearance in Murder 2 with the item number "Aa Zara".
Item numbers have been criticized for their gratuitous objectification of the female body. Item numbers have also been imitated in Mumbai's bar dancers. In respect of the ban on bar dancers in Mumbai, it has even been argued that the morality of bar dancer's imitation of item numbers cannot be questioned without questioning the morality of screening of item numbers in a film in public theatres. It has been argued that the two are equally amoral as both objectify women for commercial gain.[28]
Khalnayak was controversial right from the day it released. While the lyrics of "Choli ke peeche kya hai?" (translation: "What's behind the blouse?") were considered vulgar by some, others defended the song on the ground that it was based on folk traditions. The song eventually set off protests all over the country and a potential ban on the song was debated in the Indian Parliament. Such turn of events, however, only helped the song and the film become more popular, as many came to the movie just to see Madhuri Dixit perform the song.[25]