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Item number

 
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"Item number" is a term commonly used in the Indian film industries, such as Bollywood, Kollywood and Tollywood, to describe a catchy, upbeat, often sexually provocative dance sequence for a song in a movie that has no relevance to the plot of the film.[1]

Contents

The original item number

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. Today, it is a commonly used term with hardly any negative connotations to it.

The modern item number

The term "item number" has now been relaxed to include almost all upbeat dance numbers involving either a woman in clothes that are very revealing, sometimes bikinis or translucent brassieres, or a cameo from a star who is only in the movie for the length of that song. It is a common occurrence for these item numbers to occur in the opening and closing credits of Bollywood films. Presently, there are many exceptions.

Examples

In the late 1980s, the Ek Do Teen that was added to the movie, Tezaab as an afterthought, which transformed Madhuri Dixit and made her a superstar. Some consider her to be the pioneer of the modern trend.

But the actual pioneers of this trend—not the term—may be Helen, who did such numbers from as far back as the 1960s, along with Bindu and Aruna Irani in the 1970s.

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.

Although there have been many songs that fit the descriptions of item numbers in the early and mid 1990's, 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".

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.

In Krazzy 4, Hrithik Roshan also has an item number during the end credits.

Kareena Kapoor ,Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone are featured in three different songs in Red Chillies Entertainment's 2009 film Billu Barber. The items are justified as part of a film within a film.

Origins of term

The origin of the term is obscure. It may or may not have something to do with the term "item bomb" (a corrupted form of "atom bomb"), a slang term used to refer to a sexy woman. Many movies use this addition in their films as a marketing tool that is used as a trailer or a teaser to publicize the movie on television music channels. Sometimes established female and male actors will lend a "special appearance" to an item number to enhance the film's marketability. Item numbers of this genre are generally less sexualized and have more of a pop flavor.

History of Item Numbers in Films

Item Songs Performed By Female Actors

Helen

  • 1971 - Piya Tu Ab To Aaja - Caravan
  • 1973 - Aaj Ki Raat - Anamika
  • 1975 - Mehbooba Mehbooba - Sholay
  • 1978 - Yeh Mera Dil - Don

Parveen Babi

Madhuri Dixit

Karisma Kapoor

Tabu

Raveena Tandon

  • 1994 - Tu Cheez Badi Hai - Mohra
  • 1996 - Shahar Ki Ladki - Rakshak

Manisha Koirala

Urmila Matondkar

Malaika Arora Khan

Shilpa Shetty

  • 1999 - Maine Aai UP Bihar Lootne - Shool
  • 2000 - Macarena - Kushi
  • 2004 - Saiyaan Mora Saiyaan - Garv
  • 2008 - Shut Up & Bounce - Dostana

Rani Mukherji

Sushmita Sen

Aishwarya Rai

Isha Koppikar

Shamita Shetty

Koena Mitra

Ramya Krishnan

Yana Gupta

  • 2003 - Babuji Zara Dheera Chalo - Dum
  • 2004 - Oh! What A Babe - Rakht
  • 2004 - Manmadhan - Manmadhan
  • 2005 - Kadhal Yaanai - Anniyan

Mumaith Khan

Rakhi Sawant

Amrita Arora

Tata Young

  • 2004 - Dhoom Dhoom - Dhoom

Lara Dutta

Negar Khan

Esha Deol

Bipasha Basu

Nayantara

Dia Mirza

Kareena Kapoor

Mallika Sherawat

Hrishitaa Bhatt

Ameesha Patel

Kajol

Preity Zinta

Priyanka Chopra

Deepika Padukone

Item Songs Performed By Male Actors

Shahrukh Khan

Abhishek Bachchan

Hrithik Roshan

Salman Khan

  • 2008 - Bang Bang - Hello

Chirnjeevi

Current status

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

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ Journals : Item number defined

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

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