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In Indian cinema, an item number or special song is a musical number inserted into a film that may or may not have any relevance to the plot. The term is commonly used within Indian films (Bengali, Hindi cinema, Kannada cinema, Punjabi cinema, Tamil cinema, and Telugu cinema cinema) to describe a catchy, upbeat, often provocative dance sequence performed in a movie. Journals : Item number defined These sequences predominantly feature glamorous female performers, commonly referred to as item girls, whose appearance, movements, and attire are designed to attract visual attention and heighten the sensual appeal of the film. Such item numbers are strongly associated with the objectification of women on screen, where the female body becomes the central spectacle rather than the narrative itself. The main aim of an item number is to entertain movie-goers and to lend support to the Film promotion of the film by being featured in movie trailer. They are favoured by filmmakers as they afford the opportunity to pick potential hit songs from the stocks, since they do not add to the continuity of the plot. It is thus a vehicle for commercial success that ensures repeat viewing.
A distinctive feature of the item number is its construction around the visual and sensual appeal of its lead performer. An actress, singer, or dancer—especially someone poised to become a Movie star—who appears in an item number is popularly referred to as an item girl. While male performers known as item boys occasionally feature in such sequences, the phenomenon remains overwhelmingly associated with women, who are far more frequently cast in these roles.
In colloquial filmi slang used in Mumbai, the term item itself often implies a "sexy woman", reinforcing the view that the female body is the intended spectacle in these numbers, complemented by racy visuals and suggestive lyrics.
Item numbers had been featured in Bollywood from as early as the 1930s. Madame Azurie in the 1930s often performed item numbers; Cuckoo Moray was the next popular item dancer in the late 40s. Her banner year was 1949 when she was featured in over 17 films performing dances. Actress and classical dancer Vyjayanthimala was the one that introduced the classical dance number in Hindi films with her debut film Bahar (1951). The mixture of classical plus contemporary was popularized by Vyjayanthimala in films such as Devdas (1955), Amrapali (1966), Madhumati (1958), Sadhna (1958), Sunghursh (1968) etc.
In the early 50s, Cuckoo Moray introduced the Anglo-Burmese Helen as a chorus girl. In time Helen would come to be the most popular vamp of the late-50s, 60s and 70s, 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) (the song's tune was used in Don't Phunk with My Heart), "O Haseena Zulfon Wali" from Teesri Manzil and "Aa Jaane Jaan" from Intaqam. In films like Gunga Jumna and Zindagi the actress performed semi-classical Indian dances in songs like "Tora man bada paapi" and "Ghungarwa mora chham chham baaje". A desi bar number, "Mungda" from Inkaar was also immensely popular. In addition to her skillful dancing, her anglicised looks too helped further the vamp image. Helen's dominance pushed other vying item number dancers like Madhumati, Bela Bose, Laxmi Chhaya, Jeevankala, Aruna Irani, Sheela R. and Sujata Bakshi into the background and less prestigious and low budget B movie.
In the early part of the 1970s, actresses Jayshree T., Bindu, Aruna Irani and Padma Khanna entered into what was Helen's monopoly. Another noted feature of this era was the "tribal and banjara" item numbers such as the one in Shalimar. Such songs provided the necessary settings for the lead couple's love to bloom.
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. Her partnership with choreographer Saroj Khan has resulted in numerous hits including the controversial "Choli Ke Peeche Kya hai" and "Dhak Dhak Karne Laga" ( Beta). Soon after the release of the film Khal Nayak, there were press reports stating that people were seeing the film again and again but only for the song "Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai" that featured Dixit.
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". In 1998 Urmila Matondkar featured in the song "Chamma Chamma" in the 1998 film China Gate.
After Bachchan, the "item boy" trend was reused by Dev in Bengali cinema, who did a cameo with the song "Pante Taali" in the film Chirodini...Tumi Je Amar (2008). He also established his image of a "dancing star" with popular dance numbers - "Bhojo Gourango" in Challenge (2009), "Le Paglu Dance" in Bolo Na Tumi Aamar (2009), "Pyarelal" in Dui Prithibi (2010), "Khokababu Jay" in Shedin Dekha Hoyechilo (2010), "Lady Killer Romeo" in Romeo (2011), "Dance Maare Khokababu" in Khokababu (2012), "Party Shoes" in Bindaas (2014), "Desi Chhori" in (2014) and "Dhitang Dhitang" in Love Express (2016).
In 2005, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was featured in "Kajra Re" from the movie, Bunty Aur Babli. In 2006, Mumaith Khan was featured in "Ippatikinka" from a Telugu film, Pokiri, sung by Suchitra. Plus, the remake did the same to 2007 Tamil film, Pokkiri in "En Chella Peru Apple". In the 2007 Telugu film Desamuduru, the song "Attaantode Ittaantode" featuring Allu Arjun and Rambha became a chartbuster. 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 five leading ladies opposite Shahrukh Khan in the song "Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte". In 2007, Mallika Sherawat performed an item number "Mehbooba O Mehbooba" in Aap Ka Suroor - The Real Love Story.
In 2012, Katrina Kaif again featured in an item number "Chikni Chameli" in Agneepath, sung by Shreya Ghoshal which became a huge hit, while Kareena Kapoor was featured in "Fevicol Se" in Dabangg 2, sung by the same artist from "Munni Badnam Hui". In 2013, Deepika Padukone had some success item dancing, performing songs like "Party On My Mind" and "Lovely". Priyanka Chopra did many songs such as " Priyanka Chopra", "Pinky", and an appearance in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela song "Ram Chahe Leela", of which became a blockbuster upon release. Mahi Gill, Sonakshi Sinha, and Jacqueline Fernandez made their debut with "Don't Touch My Body", "Govinda Govinda" and "Jadu Ki Jappi" respectively.
Indian-Canadian actress Sunny Leone performed her first item dance with " Laila" from the 2013 film "Shootout at Wadala", followed up with Baby Doll from Ragini MMS 2. In 2017, Sunny Leone featured in the hit item number "Laila Main Laila" starring Shah Rukh Khan in the film Raees. It is a recreation of the song "Laila O Laila" from the 1980 film Qurbani, which featured actress Zeenat Aman with Feroz Khan in the original musical number. In 2017, Anglo-Indian actress Amanda Rosario featured in the item number "Sarkar" sung by Rani Hazarika from the movie Udanchhoo.
In 2018, Pooja Hegde featured in the hit item number "Jigelu Rani" from the film Rangasthalam. The song was trending on YouTube. Jacqueline Fernandez featured in the remake of the "Ek Do Teen" song that originally featured Madhuri Dixit. Moroccan-Canadian dancer-actress Nora Fatehi also featured in the item song "Dilbar" which has become one of the most popular Bollywood music videos of all time. It is a recreation of an item number of the same name from Sirf Tum (1999), which was composed by Nadeem–Shravan and featured Sushmita Sen as an item girl. The re-created version by Tanishk Bagchi features Middle-Eastern musical sounds. In the music video, Nora Fatehi performs belly dancing, an Arabic dance style that was previously featured in a number of popular Bollywood item numbers, performed by actresses such as Helen in "Mehbooba O Mehbooba" from Sholay (1975), Zeenat Aman in "Raqqasa Mera Naam" from The Great Gambler (1979), Mallika Sherawat in "Mayya Mayya" from Guru (2007), and Rani Mukerji in "Aga Bai" from Aiyyaa (2012). The international success of "Dilbar" inspired an Arabic-language version, also featuring Nora Fatehi. "Dilbar" is popular across Southern Asia and the Arab world, with all versions of the song having received more than 1billion views on YouTube. From then on, Nora Fatehi became associated with performing item numbers that featured belly dancing. TV and Bollywood Actress Mouni Roy made her debut by "Nachna Aunda Nahi". The "Gali Gali" track from the Kannada film , sung by Neha Kakkar, which featured Mouni Roy also, was a huge hit. Alia Bhatt also made an appearance in "The Hookup Song" from Student of The Year 2 (2019).
As one writer put it, "On paper, item numbers form the perfect formula for female sexual empowerment. In reality, they mostly result in the most blatant objectification. Camera angles zoom in over gyrating hips and linger over bare waists as blatantly as the eyes of the ogling men with no subtlety. The gaze in these dance numbers presents itself as vaguely voyeuristic, at best. There is a very deliberate implication present; that the item girl is not only inviting the leers and jeers, but she is also enjoying them."
In 2013, the Central Board of Film Certification issued a resolution declaring that item songs will now be rated as adult content and will not be allowed to be shown on television channels.
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