Guess what was the most sarcastic joke in Bollywood recently? Nobody knew who the heroine of Agneepath was? That's because Katrina ‘
Chikni Chameli' Kaif had done some big damage that Priyanka Chopra was finding hard to repair! Bipasha Basu's alleged relationship with co-star Rana Dagubatti couldn't bring the film Dum Maaro Dum more publicity than Deepika Padukone's hippie item number ‘Mit Jaaye Gum' in the film. After Malaika Arora Khan's sizzling Munni act in Dabanng threatening to overshadow her, Sonakshi Sinha will now have to face the heat with Chitrangada Singh's item number in her upcoming film, Joker! What's more? To revive interest in a film that has been a couple of years in the making, Vidhu Vinod Chopra has roped in his protégé Vidya Balan for an item number in his production Ferrari Ki Sawaari.
As you may rightly conclude, ‘item' is no longer a dirty word. The Chamelis, Munnis, Sheilas and Razias are having a kill at the box office and such is the power of the item number that A-list heroines are now nudging out the ‘dirty' item girl and churning out the oomph themselves. But the bigger the heroine, the greater is the drama associated with the item song. Here's discussing the Great Indian Item Number!
Was Madhuri Dixit the first item heroine? If you consider a fully clothed A-lister shaking a leg to fun lyrics, she probably was. Remember, ‘Mere Pyar Ka Ras Zara Chakhna' from the 1998 Amitabh-Govinda starrer Chote Miyan Bade Miyan? She was brought in to lift the film and she did so with great élan. Nobody remembers any other song from the movie. But her first real item number was way back in 1993. ‘Choli Ke Peeche' from Khalnayak even qualified as an item with raunchy lyrics and killer moves. Madhuri had it in her to do that sizzling dance and act too in the same film.
Sushmita Sen created magic too in the Karisma-Hrithik starrer Fiza (2000) with ‘Mehboob Mere'. Probably the makers thought that slotting Karisma and Hrithik as brother-sister would not work as much as a shimming Sushmita. They were right.
In 2002, much before her ‘Kajraa Re' act, Aishwarya Rai lent some item power to the film Shakti – The Power with Shah Rukh Khan in a song called ‘Ishq Kamina.' Somewhere down the line, however, specialists started being roped in for masala songs.
Malaika Arora Khan, Mallika Sherawat, Rakhi Sawant and Yana Gupta may have wowed audiences thereafter with their moves for a long time, but then the leading ladies of Bollywood realised that the three-minute item song was causing them more loss than they could have ever imagined. They were higher on the music charts, not to mention the most played in pubs and at parties. They had better recall value and they were more in demand at award functions which could easily fetch them more moolah than acting in a three-hour film.
PRIYANKA CHOPRA
Priyanka Chopra Obviously, the stance has changed from item-no-never to item-why-not. A case in point is
Priyanka Chopra who clearly moved from a will-never-do-one to reportedly asking for a solo item song in her upcoming Priyadarshan film Tezz. Her earlier attempt to try an item was with Shah Rukh Khan in Billu which was overshadowed by Deepika's ‘Love Mera Hit Hit' and Kareena's ‘Marjaani' in the same film. To be composed by Sajid-Wajid, Tezz's item song is being reportedly designed to outshine ‘Munni' and ‘Sheila' which have set benchmarks (?) in this slot. But Priyanka is sure of what she wants to do and what she wants to avoid. She has recently refused to do an item song for Saif Ali Khan's home production Agent Vinod. Reason? Kareena Kapoor, of course. The actresses hate each other not just because of the stiff competition but also because of a certain Mr. Shahid Kapoor.
KATRINA KAIF
Katrina Kaif has established herself as a queen of this art. With ‘Sheila Ki Jawaani' in Tees Maar Khan, ‘Aaoji' in Bodyguard and ‘
Chikni Chameli' in Agneepath, Kat has creamed the competition. Katrina has worked for the first time in a Karan Johar production and her debut is as an item girl! The trade is abuzz with reports that a film role is definitely on its way from Dharma Productions. YashRaj has also apparently decided to use Kat's popularity and her hold over the ‘ item'. After the fresh pairing of Aamir with Katrina in their
Dhoom 3, the makers are said to be looking for an apt situation for an item number.
CHITRANGADA SINGH
Art film gal
Chitrangada Singh enjoys doing commercial cinema so much that she agreed to an item in Shirish Kunder's next Joker. Asked about it, Chitrangada said, “It was a fantastic number — ‘Kaafirana.' Farah Khan was to choreograph it and there was no way I could have refused it. I have enjoyed doing this dance number.” It may have raised several eyebrows but it sure has generated a lot of interest.
SONAKSHI SINHA
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| sonakshi sinha |
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| sonakshi sinha |
So much interest that even
Sonakshi Sinha's first ever item number in the same film is getting a tad overshadowed. While the girl is now saying that hers is not a typical item song. Her racy number in Joker is titled ‘Dance Karle English Mein' and has been choreographed by Farah Khan. She has reportedly said that it's only Farah's association with the song that's giving it the item tag.
VIDYA BALAN
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| vidhya balan |
As if The Dirty Picture was not enough, now
Vidya Balan is ready to exploit her new-found oomph to enthral audiences with an item number in Rajesh Mapuskar's Ferrari Ki Sawaari starring Sharman Joshi. We hear that the director of the film Rajesh, along with his mentor Raju Hirani and producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra, thought
Vidya would be the perfect choice for this song. As for Vidya's consent, who can refuse the man who gave her a break in this industry with Parineeta?
KAREENA KAPOOR
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| kareena kapoor |
She rocked the show reels with ‘It's Rocking' in the Tusshar Kapoor-Ayesha Takia film Kyaa Love Story Hai after a lull in her own career.
Kareena Kapoor has never looked back since. She handles her item numbers with oomph and her films with greater care nowadays. Don had her shaking to ‘Yeh Mera Dil,' in Billu she gyrated to ‘Marjaani' and in
Ra.One she not just acted but also sizzled in ‘
Chammak Challo.' But the
Kapoor girl might just be repenting having said no to ‘
Chikni Chameli' which she was reportedly offered before Katrina, her arch rival. No prizes for guessing why. Priyanka Chopra.
