Bollywood produces loads of item songs every year. In India itself, there are groups of people who criticize them, and then there are those who like them. Of course, we can’t deny the existence of Pakistanis who love these songs (and the nudes that come with them). Some of our film makers also appear to be their fans. The point is, that there will always be people who love and hate item songs, but are item songs really “bad” enough to be stopped? Let’s see why:
Firstly, they reduce humans to “items”. The words “item” and “song” mixed together give a weird image. The item that is roped in to dance to the tunes is mostly a woman, who will dress in the most revealing clothes, and seduce all the men around her with her moves. Her dancing talent alone wouldn’t even generate half the money. The rest of it comes from her boldness and being bold means to be as revealing as you can (or as the director wants you to be). While some women don’t mind item songs, others hate them mainly because they are demeaning.
They are an unhealthy obsession. Movie makers, especially in B-Town, seem to be obsessed with item songs. Every other movie has one and there is one reason for that, the money.
Why would the film makers care about how demeaning women find item numbers, when they have a huge number of men waiting for one glimpse of the item girl? When they know they can force men to come to movie theaters through the 1-2 minute teasers of these item numbers? Moreover, won’t the rantings of the common woman sound stupid to them, when they have a line-up of women ready to dance to the beat?
They have so many reasons to continue making these songs, that they’d never stop to think how unhealthy they are for the society. There is a huge difference between literate and illiterate men. There are men who respect women and those who don’t. Showing women as objects will only encourage them to demean the opposite gender even more. The worst part is, when kids are seen dancing over these songs on weddings, while their mothers and fathers clap and encourage them.
Item numbers glorify every thing a stalker would do. Every woman knows being stalked is a frightful experience. Girls who travel through public transport have complained about men hungrily staring at them, whistling at them or trying to touch them. The lyrics of these songs are used to call upon the girls. It is a really painful experience for them.
Women in item numbers present themselves to men. The hero of the film will dance with them while they do so, and he will imply all of the above mentioned traits of stalkers.
Last but not the least, item numbers are not needed. They don’t make the story progress in anyway. The movie can be made without them and probably the hero will have our respects then. Who could “like” a hero who dances with nude women on some really vulgar song? That’s cheating on the heroine isn’t it?
What do you think about this trend? Do you favour it for Pakistani cinema?
Areeba Mohsen