D:\MANDATE\MANDATE OCTOBER 2013\TREND\TREND.INDD 1 23, SEPTEMBER 2013 12:19 PM TREND Choli ke peeche kya hai... Meet the ‘item girl’ of Bollywood, the subliminal hero of Hindi cinema, upon whose slender shoulders and willowy waistline, rides the success of every Friday-release. MODEL: NATASHA; AGENCY: TOABH MANAGEMENT; PHOTOGRAPHS: OMKAR CHITNIS; STYLIST: SAYALI ANGACHEKAR: MAKE-UP: CHETAN KARKHANIS; HAIR STYLIST: JUSTINE RAE MELLOCASTRO; SEQUIN & NET CHOLI, SHIMMER GOLD & WHITE LEHENGA, RED DUPATTA: MALACHA BY MRUNAL YanGAD & CHALLA JEWELLERY: STYLISt’S OWN D:\MANDATE\MANDATE OCTOBER 2013\TREND\TREND.INDD 2 23, SEPTEMBER 2013 12:19 PM D:\MANDATE\MANDATE OCTOBER 2013\TREND\TREND.INDD 3 23, SEPTEMBER 2013 12:19 PM TREND D:\MANDATE\MANDATE OCTOBER 2013\TREND\TREND.INDD 4 23, SEPTEMBER 2013 12:19 PM Okay, fine. By Nairita Mukherjee We do have the occasional incoherent plots and random action sequences, but let’s not deny that one of the major aspects that sets Bollywood apart from Hollywood is our insatiable hunger for a foot- thumping, belly-shaking number which can be as spontaneous as it can get. Hollywood took ‘forever’ to come up with something like Chicago or Moulin Rouge, while we almost perfected the art by then. In our country, the otherwise closeted display of sexuality comes forth in full force with a suggestively erotic dance, essentially objectifying a woman. Picture Helen swaying her lascivious hips before a drunken audience, whether in a kotha or a discotheque, and you will know what we mean. The ‘item number’—the black sheep of Indian cinema—has always been a thing of cloak-and-dagger, throbbing (at our hearts) surreptitiously. And, the ‘item girl’ is the ultimate object of desire, say like Vyjayanthimala in Chadh Gayo Papi Bichua in Madhumati (1958), or as the vamp, establishing herself as the opposite of the pristine leading lady, both in virtue and vice. Helen and her embellished eye make- up and feathery ensemble in Aa Jaane Jaan in Intequam (1969) got that aspect right. Often only considered as a vestigial appendage to the storyline by the puritan cinema critics, these numbers used to be the breathers to cut through the intensity of the story. Says senior entertainment journalist and talk-show host, Anupama Chopra, “I always remember what Javed Akhtar had once said to me, that an item number is like a monkey on the story’s back, it has no relevance with the plot, but it is always there.” But then, the wheels turned. The Zeenat Amans and Parveen Babis shimmered in their sequined body suits and became both Madonna and Medusa for their men. Poor vamps made a quiet exit, and were swiftly replaced by the brave leading ladies who refused to stay cocooned in the ghoonghat. The item girl was no longer vestigial. She rather became a crowd puller in the otherwise male-centric world of showbiz. Director, Mahesh Bhatt puts it rather simply, “Let the purists scream as much as they want, but the truth is, by shedding her cultural inhibitions, a woman has managed to establish herself as an assertive being, as opposed to what she was perceived as earlier.” And Madhuri Dixit just took it a notch higher. With her Dhak Dhak and Ek Do Teen, and the subsequent Choli ke peeche kya hai that went on to become the ultimate titillation of the ’90s, she established herself as the star seductress, a concept the Hindi film fraternity had not yet seen. She set the cobblestones, with every hit number, and paved the way for the Munnis, the Sheilas, the Chamelis and the Lailas. Although much table-breaking debate can continue over whether it’s at all an evolution or a cultural regression, it is impossible to ignore its existence and influence on Hindi cinema today. Even after being condemned as gimmicky and plain brazen or as social commentator ad guru, Prahlad Kakkar puts it, “a wanker’s delight,” one cannot deny the fact that this trend has also given Hindi cinema some of its most memorable music and choreography, and has managed to breathe life into many a film. Case in point is the super smasher Dabangg. “When someone like Munni, who had nothing to do with the plot is remembered as much as the rogue cop played by Salman Khan, need we say more about the impact of I AN an item number on the minds of the audience?,” asks prominent film critic, Taran Adarsh. Also, for a LK movie like Tees Maar Khan, which almost got lost in oblivion, Sheila managed to stay afloat, and when MA A it came to the much-anticipated Shootout at Wadala that turned out to be a dud at the box- office, the BIT only one who could salvage the sinking ship was the promiscuous Laila. BA RI: The producers and distributors watched as the dancing damsels raked in moolah and eventually, the SA item number became an expert marketing strategy. “An item number is like the achar you lick off your ET ET N fingers, it just adds that smack-value to the film that can give it a grand opening and an edge above the D other releases that week,” adds Chopra. Which is why, even a star-studded Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani had HE C to rely on Mohini and the swish of her skirt (read ghagra) to give the film some wind beneath its wings. TIT S However, the purists that Director Mahesh Bhatt briefly mentioned, are lurking around us, patiently waiting to hand us a can of worms! Prahlad Kakkar reads such attempts as having much greater social E WITH S ramifications. He says, “When a man belonging to a certain under-privileged strata of the society is U O subliminally provoked, you can’t blame him for the heinous crimes he might end up committing.” BL D ERE D I O MBR E D:\MANDATE\MANDATE OCTOBER 2013\TREND\TREND.INDD 5 23, SEPTEMBER 2013 12:19 PM TREND SWAROVSKI WORK HALTER BLOUSE & TULLE LEHENGA: BABITA MALKANI; MANGTIKKA & ARMLET: STYLISt’S OWN D:\ M ANDA TE \ M ANDA TE OC T O BER 2013\ TRE ND\ TRE ND.I NDD smack-value to the film” the to smack-value fingers, it just adds that that adds just it fingers, achar achar 6 number is like the the like is number Anupama Chopra Anupama you lick off your your off lick you “An item item “An 23, SEPTEMBER201312:19 PM VELVET CHOLI & BROCADE LEHENGA: MALACHA BY MRUNAL YanGAD; KUNDAN EARRING: STYLISt’S OWN D:\ M ANDA TREND TE \ M ANDA TE OC T O BER 2013\ TRE ND\ TRE ND.I NDD cabarets and so on. That’s what what That’s on. so and cabarets they are. The girls performing performing girls The are. they be known as dance numbers, numbers, dance as known be in these songs are making a a making are songs in these derogatory. They used to used to They derogatory. special appearance, appearance, special they are not items!” not are they Sophie Choudry Sophie number) itself is is itself number) “That title (item (item title “That 7 23, SEPTEMBER201312:19 PM D:\MANDATE\MANDATE OCTOBER 2013\TREND\TREND.INDD 8 23, SEPTEMBER 2013 12:19 PM Well, the statutory warning on a cigarette packet doesn’t quite stop a potential smoker from smoking now, does it? But, actor Sophie Choudry feels, this particular mindset reeks of an irony, “Today, we are supposedly a more western society, however, the truth is that we are now more hypocritical and prudish than ever. What used to be celebrated as part of a film is now criticised as being offensive to women. How can one generalise? We’ve had raunchy songs ever since the time of Binduji. She was fabulous! Not cheap or tacky but sexy and strong.” She does have a problem with the stereotypical labelling though. “That title (item number) itself is derogatory. They used to be known as dance numbers, cabarets and so on. That’s what they are. The girls performing in these songs are making a special appearance, they are not items!” she concludes. We do understand why the item songs make a few feminists shift in their seats, but isn’t it possible to read this trend differently? What if she is a sexually liberated woman, who not only has complete control over her male audience, but is also quite confident of her own body? Soumyadipta Banerjee, Bollywood journalist and blogger, is quick-witted here, when he says, “Women always have the power to entice their men, that’s needless to say. However, the true power of an item number lies not in its nuances, but in the numbers it generates, and that’s something every filmmaker is aware of now. It’s a powerful tool for publicity and that’s why it’s there in every movie.” So, in the finality of it all, the trend may or may not be regressive, but before you think we are being judgemental, let us face the facts. The only one who can challenge the ability of an A-lister to pull a full house is the humble sexy, unabashed, brazen, three-minute worth item girl. M.