Item Songs in Hindi Cinema and the Postfeminist Debate
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Pakistan Journal of Women’s Studies: Alam-e-Niswan Vol. 24, No.2, 2017, pp.1-14, ISSN: 1024-1256 ITEM SONGS IN HINDI CINEMA AND THE POSTFEMINIST DEBATE Shirin Zubair Department of English, Kinnaird College for Women, Lahore Abstract Item songs in mainstream (read=malestream) Indian cinema are difficult to decode as cultural narratives due to their polysemous linguistic and visual messages, particularly in the wake of the backlash feminism has earned in an era of (post) feminism. Rather than follow the conventional feminist approach to decode such songs as sexualizing and objectifying women, this essay reads an alternative narrative into some of these songs, by arguing that blurring the boundaries between the erstwhile ‘bad woman’ or ‘vamp’ and the modern Indian woman who is sexually liberated, independent and in control, such songs articulate a postfeminist discourse with regard to Indian femininities. To this end, I analyze two very popular item songs in recent years Shiela ki jawani (Tees Maar Khan, 2010) and chikni chameli (Agneepath, 2012), while applying the (post) feminist critique (McRobbie, 2009; Fraser, 2016) to argue that these songs position women as sexually active, independent and agentive. They also resonate with the wider socio-cultural practices in urban India: the changing lifestyles, practiced and lived femininities of the young urban women, as well as the new breed of leading Indian female actors, who display no inhibitions in performing these songs. Seen in this perspective, the songs provide a site or space for diverse and oppositional practices regarding feminism and traditional femininities; while songs like chikni chameli, Shiela ki jawani celebrate the new woman’s empowerment through sexual liberation, her autonomy, individuation and freedom, yet simultaneously position women—through rampant sexism in lyrics and itemization of body parts through a camera lens---as the classic object of the male gaze (Mulvey, 1999). Keywords Feminism, femininities, Hindi cinema, visuals, lyrics, female success 2 Shirin Zubair Introduction Postcolonial feminists of colour (Spivak, 1988; Narayan, 1997) contend that power and hegemonic structures exist not only within social institutions but also within dominant cultural narratives. In ‘the postfeminist era’ of popular culture, with its over-emphasis on commercials which sexualize women as commodities to sell products in capitalist societies, item songs in mainstream Indian cinema are difficult to decode as cultural narratives because they are multilayered as well as ambivalent. Through my analysis, I hope to illustrate and argue that contrary to popular criticism against them, item songs also empower rather than only sexualize and demean women, as they are symptomatic of a big shift that Indian cinema --which has a globalized following and viewership—is currently experiencing in terms of representations of women. In this light, I argue that item songs are harbingers of changing lifestyles, practiced and lived femininities of young urban women as well as the new breed of Indian and Pakistani female actors. Since Hindi cinema is very popular across the border in Pakistan, our television and fashion industry is trying to catch up fast with growing trends across borders where our lead female actors like Mehvish Hayat and Sohai Ali Abroo do not shy away from performing item songs like billi (Na Maloom Afraad, 2014) and selfian (Wrong Number, 2016) etc. Although these songs in Hindi films discursively provide a space for enactment of female power and success, cultural theorists are of the view that such cultural narratives are ambiguous, as they are enmeshed in political regimes’ agendas of diverting attention away from addressing the structural causes of gender inequalities by focusing on individual success rather than collective women’s rights. This paper problematizes the emergence of item songs and the ensuing debates surrounding such representations in light of postfeminist theory. Postfeminism, Postcolonialism and decolonising debates on popular culture There has been a lot of hue and cry over media sexualization of women within feminist literature. In this article, I look at the relevance of media representations and sexualization of women in relation to women’s rights movements in postcolonial contexts, particularly in regard to changing women’s representations in Hindi cinema through an analysis of two item songs. The role that media representations play in the lives of women cannot be undermined or dismissed, as women relate to and construct their identities in relation to media representations whether it is literary or cinematic images. Linguists such as Cameron and Kulick (2003) argue that representations are a resource that individuals draw on in constructing their own identities and ways of doing things. Conversely, these representations draw on, though often selectively, people’s lived experiences and their everyday talk about it. Item Songs in Hindi Cinema and the Postfeminist Debate 3 Postfeminist voices—particularly in and /or from the West—claim that since feminism is no longer relevant, therefore focus has shifted from collective women’s right’s movements to individual woman’s success. The feminist author of the bestselling The Beauty Myth, Wolf (1993), has written an empowering, impassioned manifesto that points the way toward a flexible feminism for the 1990s and beyond. Her analysis is part political, part psychological manual, part activist handbook: her book argues that women should renounce ‘victim feminism’, which casts them as sexually pure, fragile, beleaguered creatures whose problems are all the fault of men. As an alternative, Wolf outlines an anti- dogmatic ‘power feminism’ which sees women as no better and no worse than men, celebrates female sexuality and encourages women to claim their individual voices through a variety of tactics. These include ‘resource groups’ for sharing contacts and increasing access to information and services; consumer campaigns; and pressure on the media to alter their portrayals of women. Wolf theorizes that little girls, as much as boys, have fantasies of absolute dominion but learn to repress their ‘will to power’ at a very early age. Wolf here sketches a psychological road map designed to help women deal with their ambivalence about success, power, equality and money. Many Southern feminist theorists look at the role of colonial and postcolonial states in shaping gender relations, and the dilemmas created by post-neoliberal and anti- colonial politics who argue that thinking theory from within a decolonial framework is needed in postcolonial nation-states. Giraldo (2016) locates ‘the coloniality of gender’ within postfeminist female subjectivity in the global media representations: defending the political relevance of theory by citing examples of construction of the exotic female other in Western popular media. There, empowerment is articulated by embodying the archetype of the ‘exotic’ sex bomb, whether it is Shakira, Jennifer Lopez or Rihanna having Middle Eastern, Latina and Caribbean roots respectively. These representations--according to Giraldo-- exemplify coloniality at work. She observes that “while a neoliberal gender equality rationale has permeated urban areas' strands of feminism in a decolonial vein have proliferated in rural ones” (2016, p. 162). Agreeing with McRobbie (2004, 2009), she argues that the priority of community over the individual is central to the decolonial options available in Latin America and other postcolonial states. The rise of item songs and female-centric cinema The rise of item songs coincides with the recent trend of critically and commercially successful Hindi movies like Queen (2014), Piku (2015) , and Pink ( 2016), with female- centric themes encoding feminist messages. The latter seem to be contesting hegemonic and powerful structures by challenging patriarchal constructions of appropriate femininities, taking on patriarchy head-on by celebrating female success, female sexuality and autonomy. 4 Shirin Zubair The item songs are a marketing gimmick both for the leading female actors as well as for film makers. From the filmmakers’ point of view, these are primarily included for the commercial success of the film, targeted at common male consumers in cities and small towns with single screens, and are often sponsored by products such as Kareena Kapoor’s famous fevicol se (Dabangg 2, 2012) and Malalika‘s Munni badnaam hui Dabangg 2010), which are sophisticated versions of commercials for Fevicol and Zandobalm respectively. From the point of view of the leading female actors (known as A-list actors) -- who do the item numbers, since such songs are usually catchy, and major hits on the charts, played in discos, bars and weddings -- they agree to do these numbers for various reasons. Among those reasons, are one, they are the quick work of a few days or a week for a hefty payment; two, once the item song is on the music charts, the actor gets invited to perform (on payment) at weddings, award functions and shows, thus making a lot of quick money; and three, usually the item-song girl outshines the female lead in the movie by just doing these numbers. Producers and filmmakers sometimes tend to add these numbers even though they are not part of the original script, but are inserted after the film is completed to grab the attention of the masses and attract them to theatres. A case in point here is the recent inclusion of the famous 1990’s song Oye Oye in the biopic Azhar (2016) featuring the famous Indian cricketer Azhar-ud-Din’s life. The song -- originally filmed by Sangeeta Bijlani and two other female actors in 1990s -- was not part of the original script but was added as an afterthought to the otherwise serious biopic of Azhar-ud-Din’s life. Becvause Azhar left his first wife, Naureen, to marry Sangeeta, this peppy song picturing Nargis Fakhri and two other skimpily dressed girls, which was a hit number in the 90’s, would be an added attraction to draw many a male viewer to the theatre, particularly in cities like Azhar’s home town, Hyderabad.