Item number
The term is commonly used within Indian films (Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Punjabi, and Bengali cinema) to describe a catchy, upbeat, often provocative dance sequence for a song performed in a movie.[7] Up to the 1970s, Hindi cinema often relied on a female "vamp" character – usually playing the role of a cabaret dancer, tawaif/prostitute/courtesan, or male gangster's moll – to provide musical entertainment deemed more risqué.In time Helen would come to be the most popular vamp of the late-50s, 60s and 70s,[9] having had performed in scores of item numbers including such popular songs as "Mera Naam Chin Chin Choo" from the film Howrah Bridge (1958), "Piya Tu Ab To Aaja" from Caravan (1971), "Mehbooba Mehbooba" from Sholay (1975) and "Yeh Mera Dil" from Don (1978) (the song's tune was used in Don't Phunk with My Heart), "O Haseena Zulfon Wali" from Teesri Manzil and "Aa Jaane Jaan" from Intaqam.[10] Helen's dominance pushed other vying item number dancers like Madhumati, Bela Bose, Laxmi Chhaya, Jeevankala, Aruna Irani, Sheela R. and Sujata Bakshi into the background and less prestigious and low budget B-movies.Hence regardless of the theme and plot, an elaborate song and dance routine involving spectacularly lavish sets, costumes, special effects, extras and dancers would invariably be featured in a film.[13] Although there have been many songs that fit the descriptions of item numbers in the early and mid-1990s, the term itself was coined when Shilpa Shetty danced for "Main Aai Hoon UP Bihar Lootne" in the movie Shool.[citation needed] Former item girls in pop songs outside films, Rakhi Sawant and Meghna Naidu, for example, are now in demand and very popular.Indian-Canadian actress Sunny Leone performed her first item dance with "Laila" from the 2013 film "Shootout at Wadala", followed up with Baby Doll from Ragini MMS 2.[22] In 2017, Anglo-Indian actress Amanda Rosario featured in the item number "Sarkar"[23] sung by Rani Hazarika from the movie Udanchhoo.Moroccan-Canadian dancer-actress Nora Fatehi also featured in the item song "Dilbar" which has become one of the most popular Bollywood music videos of all time.[27] In the music video, Nora Fatehi performs belly dancing, an Arabic dance style that was previously featured in a number of popular Bollywood item numbers, performed by actresses such as Helen in "Mehbooba O Mehbooba" from Sholay (1975), Zeenat Aman in "Raqqasa Mera Naam" from The Great Gambler (1979), Mallika Sherawat in "Mayya Mayya" from Guru (2007), and Rani Mukerji in "Aga Bai" from Aiyyaa (2012).[30] In this era, Tamannaah became the most popular item girl in the film industry, featuring in songs like "Kaavaalaa" from Jailer alongside Rajinikanth and "Aaj Ki Raat" from Stree 2.Criticizing the bill and supporting the dancers, Flavia Agnes said that bar dancing cannot be termed as vulgar, what they are doing is an imitation of what item girls are doing in films, they work there out of their own choice."[32] In 2013, the Central Board of Film Certification issued a resolution declaring that item songs will now be rated as adult content and will not be allowed to be shown on television channels.
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