![]() We still have songs like this today, “Malang” from Dhoom 3 for instance. It wasn’t just “item dancers” who did these performances, Waheeda Rahman, very respectable actress, did a song in the same film, “Jungle Mein” Helen is dressed skimpily, but beyond that it has little in common with today’s “item numbers”, the audience in the film is a respectable mix of genders (this is not just for the male gaze, we are told by the female gaze who is looking at it within the film), and she has a male co-dancer. ![]() Back then, they used to be called “cabaret songs”, and that was truly what they were, performances that an audience of men and woman could watch together, little mini-skirts and entertainments. It was also the costumes, the choreography the sets. Helen was an amazing dancer, but her songs became classics not just for that. There are a lot of classic songs, especially Helen numbers, that fall into this category. But sometimes it is just a dance number that happens to have a female lead, and it is fun not because it is “sexy” but because it is incredible. Any time a woman is leading a dance, it tends to be called an “item song”. Item songs are also a moment for pure spectacle. It’s not about a bar dancer and a patron, it’s about a woman using her sexuality to survive in a very literal way.ģ. Or it can be a pure form of this, like “Yeh Mera Dil” from the original Don. “Lut Gayee” from Hulchul, 3 hardworking dancers trying to catch male eyes and make some money in the village square. Or one of my favorites, the same idea but in a village setting. Or “Yeh Jawani Hadd Kar De” from Sarfarosh, which uses the inventive technique of going between multiple bars and showing multiple dancers all dancing to the same song in the same kind of seedy small room, cheap costumes, and middle aged lecherous audiences. We don’t just see Karisma onstage, we see the slimey businessman watching her, the seedy darkly lit bar, the whole experience of it. And there are gritty sequences that give us a real sense of what that feels like, to be dancing for a mob of men. “Bar Dancers” are an actual thing in Bombay, part of the fabric of the city. The ones that truly want to explore what it is like to be a woman dancing for men. It’s sexy, but sex isn’t serious business, it’s just kind of funny.Īnd for a final example, one of my favorites of the many many Shahrukh examples of this type, him being ridiculous and silly while watching Sonali Bendre dance.Ģ. We can admire the beauty of Shilpa’s body, and also laugh at Anil’s reaction. But what makes the sequence so joyful is Anil’s reaction, shocked and embarrassed and over come. Shilpa Shetty is inspired by the other woman to sing an aggressive song to her secret crush, Anil Kapoor. For instance, “Apun Ko To Bas” from Rishtaay, one of my favorites. There are loads of examples of this type. But it can be sexy and also lighthearted. It’s also very sexy, of course, Katrina’s body is made to look very voluptuous with her sexual characteristics highlighted. ![]() And of course we have the end with Akshay, the jealous boyfriend, storming in to stop the song and ending up caught up in it, making fun of male possessiveness of the female form. ![]() The dancers are looking back out of the screen and winking at us.įor instance, in “Sheila Ki Jawani”, we have the ridiculous director spoofing the male gaze, we have the lyrics making fun of how woman are sexualized to an illogical degree, and we have Katrina throwing herself fully into the song in a joyful way, everything just slightly over the top, making faces and holding finger to her lips and so on. Treats it as a cartoon, the men look foolish and so do the women, it’s sex, but it’s funny human sex that makes you happy and laugh, not delirious and angry. The item song that pokes fun at the whole idea of sexuality. I’ve been thinking about this, and I’ve come up with 5 categories of Item Songs.ġ. Oh, and this is kind of a partner with this post that goes into what objectification means, and this post that talks about male and female gaze) Every once in a while the war drums start beating about how item songs are the cause of all the bad things that happen to women in India, and it always bothers me, because “item songs” ends up including a whole range of songs that are completely different in meaning.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |