Recently, my friend and I happened to have a conversation on the trend of 'item numbers' in films, especially in the Bollywood context. Very casually, she remarked "why do we call these songs as item numbers?" This statement had quite a jolting effect on me. I hadn't paid much attention to the inclusion of the phrase "item" in these songs before. As per our understanding and what this term actually refers to in film slang, item is used to symbolise a sexy woman
Be it "Munni Badnaam Hui" or "Sheila ki Jawaani", majority of us have danced to these beats at some point in our lives. Yet, the one thing that both these songs have in common, besides keeping the audiences hooked is the presence of a woman mostly grooving to the songs with seductive dance moves, dressed in minimal clothing amongst a crowd of lusty men. The question that arises is that are these songs important to the plot of the film or are they just present to attract a larger audience, particularly males in this case and if it is the latter, do they then instead serve a larger purpose of objectifying women?
There is no doubt in the fact that the past decade has witnessed tremendous growth in the presence of item numbers in films so much so that they have become a norm. Yet, if observed, more often than not, these songs have no connection to the plot of the film at all. They are often placed when the hero is out on a quest and lands somewhere near the evil side or even just to please the villain sometimes. It is only rarely that they are vital to the plot for example, in "Khalnayank", Madhuri dances to 'Choli ke Peeche' to attract the villain. This idea makes sense but then again the question that arises here is that is it necessary to present this song in a manner that objectifies the woman, presents her as the ideal of the male gaze? Even if it is connected to the plot somehow, can the presentation be not something else, less derogatory to women? Clearly, item numbers here are a conscious choice to attract people and market the film well at the expense of massive objectification of women.
Item numbers are quite derogatory to women from the likes of it. It presents a woman succumbing to the male fantasy of how a female should look like and behave. For the most part, the dancer is seen grooving around to the pleasure of her male audience and tolerating their noises and whistles. Majorly, the "item girl" is seen as flattered by the attention the males award her and continues her performance, if not more vigourously. The entire problem lies here with reducing the item girl and largely women to a stereotypical representation of sex objects, where the woman is viewed completely in sexual terms and nothing else. It is her body that captivates the attention of a plethora of men and despite their hurling noises and insults, the dancer is made to be seen as enjoying them and welcoming them. This clearly erodes the idea of respect for the woman, for who she is as a person, as another gender, not merely an object subjected to male desires.
Even if item numbers are believed to add significant value to the momentum of the film, why is it that an overarching majority of women perform in them? Why not men? This certainly does not imply that men have not performed in a similar category of songs. Shahrukh Khan's "Dard-e-Disco" in "Om Shanti Om" is often cited as a male item number version yet why is it that even the word "item" symbolically translates to that of a sexy woman and not just any other gender? If it moves the plot and must be added, why does it follow the seductive pattern as it does now? Maybe it's just a commercial element then added to attract audiences , built on objectification of women.
Item numbers have been quite the norm in Bollywood for sometime now, yet an important question that must be asked is that whether they benefit the plot of the film or act as a bait for the audiences, objectifying women.