Whenever we talk about item-numbers, we inevitably end up talking about the male gaze. But what can we learn from item-numbers about art and respectability? This article seeks to shift the paradigm from the male gaze, to desire and transgression, drawing comparisons with art forms such as belly dance.
Let us begin by looking at definitions of the term ‘item-number’, taken from the the papers: Excusing the female dancer: Tradition and transgression in Bollywood dancing, South Asian Popular Culture by Amita Nijhawan, and The Item Number: Cinesexuality in Bollywood and Social Life by Rita Brara.
The item-number is a cine-segment comprising an item-girl/boy, a racy song, a vivacious dance and a surround of erotic and immanent exuberance. (Brara, p.67)
Item songs are big budget dance sequences in Bollywood…that construct new sites of sexual desire and identity (Nijhawan, pg. 99)
[An item-number is an] erotic assemblage of dance, song, music, image (Brara, p.69)
[An item-number has a] Hot, tempestuous, item girl, racy song, dance, dramatic light effects, supporting cast and it is Loosely connected to movie narrative (Brara, p.68)
All these definitions are incomplete in some aspect. Firstly, we can include many party and rap songs in this frame. Many songs involving two leads can also be ‘tempestuous’ and ‘racy’.
Almost all of these definitions can apply to contemporary cabaret oriented belly dance (Kraus, 2011). If a belly dancer executes a pelvic thrust or a belly roll, is it erotic, or vulgar, or is she trying to highlight just how much muscular control she has? If she executes an undulation with her chest, is the move sexual or is she trying to demonstrate her technical finesse? Then, what we call an item-number does not just depend on how tempestuous a dance is, but also on the dancer’s movement, the lyrics, and the way the camera looks at the dancer’s body. Our notions of propriety are informed by our social (especially class and geographical) location. We want our nudity to be ‘tasteful’ and ‘justified by the story’. Somehow, aesthetically shot skin is seen to be less capitalist and more artsy. Does anyone have a problem with the artists of yesteryear painting naked women upon naked women? Why do these same people have a problem when playboy has pin-up girls? Interestingly, music composer A.R. Rahman has said that he doesn’t treat creating item-numbers like a compromise and enjoys creating them (Brara, p.68).
No matter which dance form you pick, belly, pole, cabaret, burlesque, mujra, they are all forms of dance that require technical and not just erotic skills. But that is exactly our problem. For something to be considered art, it must either be devoid of all eroticism, or that eroticism should be aesthetic. We can see this in The Other Song (classical music of the tawaifs is taken over by men of the hindu right), we can see this in how the Nautanki thrives in item-numbers (Munni Badnaam Hui), while the traditional performers get sidelined (Iyer, 2014). We can see this in Bharatnatyam going from a temple dance performed by devdasis to one that is now performed only by good upper-caste Hindu women, with all its erotic connotations removed. We can see this in Rakhi Sawant – famous item-girl of the 2000s – going out of work when she protests against this sort of sanitization in the industry (Koffee With Karan, 2007).
In the hierarchy of what is acceptable and what isn’t, item-numbers are often considered just one step above a B-grade film, which, other than having lower production value, are also more unabashedly and ‘crassly’ sexual. Item-numbers too, are unabashedly talking about sexuality and desire.
Item-numbers have an interesting history. The term originates from the ‘items’ in restaurant menus, and the co-option of the word item for a ‘pretty girl’ is deeply problematic. Item-numbers were earlier performed by so-called item-girls (new actresses or starlets), who often used them to debut, but now mainstream actresses often do cameo item-numbers (Deepika in Raabta, Kareena in Fevicol Se), and sometimes even the main lead of the film may be willing to do it (Deepika in Lovely, Katrina in Sheela Ki Jawaani). Where earlier, someone like Helen or Bindu (christened item-girls only in retrospect), could never play the lead actress, and almost always played a vamp with dubious sexual morals, these days even lead actresses are allowed to have sex appeal. While the term item-number came about with the advent of the remixes like Kaliyon Ka Chaman, Kaanta Laga, Yeh Vaada Raha in the late 90s and early 2000s (Brara, pg.68), titillating dances have been being performed in Bollywood since forever. Sometimes in the guise of a village belle’s dance, sometimes the circus or caravan performer (Chadhti Jawaani), or sometimes the vamp (Mera Naam Shabnam Hai). It was always the tawaif, the working-woman, and the vamp who had any sort of freedom to express desire (Nijhawan, pg.100).
Item-numbers have changed that. Coming to Aishwarya Rai’s Kajraare, and then onto Sheela Ki Jawaani, and then Namak Ishq Ka and Beedi, all of them are expressions of what the female wants. Since this is not a passive expression of sexuality, because the woman actively expresses her desire, the woman then turns into a subject who looks, sees and chooses (Brara, pg. 107)This can then be termed an inversion of Mulvey’s uni-directional male gaze.
Our problem with the item-numbers is not that we are using sex or skin to sell, or that it degrades or objectifies women. In fact, our real problem is the moral panic created by women transgressing what is considered appropriate by actually expressing and owning their sexual desire. It allows even these ‘deviant’ women to have an interiority that was once afforded only to the female lead. We worry about the aspirational value that is ascribed to these songs so as to not lead good domesticated women astray.
Does Aga Bai Halla (which is incidentally technically belly dance) count as an item-number? While it features and sexualizes both its leads, the camera actually lingers more on the body of the male lead. Does Dreamum Wakeuppam count? Is it okay when we have a fully clothed male lead like Honey Singh surrounded by hot scantily clad women (as in Dope Shope, or Sunny Sunny)? How about something like Hip Hip Hurrah? Why is objectification okay when a man is describing the woman’s body as different things (Afreen Afreen), but problematic when a Munni or Sheela sings about her own desirability?
Another interesting trend is the objectification of men (Gupta, 2007). Starting with Saawariya and Dard-E-Disco, we have Aga Bai Halla and Tareefan (which is subversive because while the lyrics sound like your garden variety misogynistic item-song, the visuals invert the power imbalance by showing the women as powerful and in-control, and the men as props). This is an encouraging trend, and some respite for the women in the audience.
The sex-negative language in which the discourse around item-numbers is couched is telling. It is akin to the protests that happened when the Miss World pageant was held in India in 1996 (see reports appended below); in that both conservative elements and feminists have a problem with item-numbers, and both problems stem from a discomfort with the nude body.
In all of our theorizing, have we forgotten the performer? When asked, item-girls have often tried to reclaim the narrative by saying that there is nothing wrong with skin show, or that the most beautiful part of their body is their heart (Brara, pg. 71). Why do we hear no one talking about the joy that expressing sensuality brings to a performer, the joy of singing of the desire bursting out of your heart, the joy of seeing your body create art?
References
Brara, Rita (2010) ‘The Item Number: Cinesexuality in Bollywood and Social Life’, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 45, No. 23 (June 5-11, 2010), pp. 67-74.
Gupta, Charu (2007) ‘Visual Pleasures for the Female Gaze’, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 42, No. 50 (Dec. 15 – 21, 2007), pp. 19-20.
Iyer, Usha (2014) Illicit worlds of Indian dance: cultures of exclusion, South, Asian Popular Culture, 12:2, 145-148.
Krauss, Rachel (2011) ‘“We are not strippers”: How Belly Dancers Manage a (Soft) Stigmatized Serious Leisure Activity’, Symbolic Interaction, 33:3, 435-455.
Nijhawan, Amita (2009) Excusing the female dancer: Tradition and transgression in Bollywood dancing, South Asian Popular Culture, 7:2, 99-112.
Raj, Saritha (1996) Miss World contest draws flak in Bangalore, India Today, (link:https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/indiascope/story/19961031-miss-world-contest-draws-flak-in-bangalore-834023-1996-10-31
Talwar, Ramola (1996) ‘Hundreds Protest Miss World Contest In India’, Daily News, https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1696&dat=19961124&id=BfoaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0kcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6843,2624618&hl=en)
Movies and Songs
The Other Song, a 2009 film by Saba Dewan. More information can be found here: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1519658/
Koffee With Karan, Season 2, Episode 12, 2007
Munni Badnaam Hui, Dabangg, 2010
Raabta (title track), Raabta, 2017
Fevicol Se, Dabangg 2, 2012
Lovely, Happy New Year, 2014
Sheela Ki Jawaani, Tees Maar Khan, 2010
Kaliyon Ka Chaman, UMI10, by Harry Anand, 2002
Kaanta Laga, DJ Doll, 2002
Yeh Vaada Raha, Ek Haseena Thi …, by DJ Aqeel, 2002
Chadhti Jawaani, Caravan, 1971. [Interestingly, this song has also been remixed by DJ Doll in 2003, though the premise has been changed completely.]
Mera Naam Shabnam Hai, Kati Patang, 1971. It has been picturized on Bindu, who plays the villain’s aide in the film.
Kajraare, Bunty Aur Babli, 2005
Namak Ishq Ka and Beedi are both from Omkara, 2006
Aga Bai Halla and Dreamum Wakeuppam are both from Aiyyaa, 2012
Dope Shope, International Villager, 2011
Sunny Sunny, Yaariyan, 2013
Hip Hip Hurrah, Mere Dad Ki Maruti, 2013
Afreen Afreen, Coke Studio, 2016, by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Momina Musteshan
Saawariya (title track), Saawariya, 2007
Dard-E-Disco, Om Shanti Om, 2007
Tareefan, Veere Di Wedding, 2018
Gender | Media | Culture 