Adieu girls
here come
item boys

With the big boys of Bollywood doting on their new found love for item numbers,
here’s looking forward to a new crop of item boys, who are all set to give a
stiff competition to the item girls, writes Shama Rana

BAD news for Munnis, Sheilas, Shalus, Razias and jalebi bais; their days in the industry are numbered. Item boys have joined the ranks and are here to sizzle the silver screen. Item songs have long been a bastion of female actors. But Bollywood hunks, with their stylish looks and incredible dancing skills, are queuing up and are in a mood to give these girls some serious competition.

Now joining the bandwagon of item boys is Mr Perfectionist, Aamir Khan. This Bollywood superstar, who is grooving to an item number "Tere Pyaar Ne Kar Diya Deewana" in his recent production, Delhi Belly, declares that boys have finally arrived.

"As far as the item dance done by me is concerned, it is a warning to Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone that the era of item girls is over .... It’s time for item boys," Aamir was quoted as saying. Aamir, who wishes for a National Award for his item song and be titled as the Best Item Boy, is quick to add, "It is a tribute to the disco era of the 1980s led by Bappi da (Bappi Lahiri), Mithun da (Mithun Chakraborty) and Govinda," he said. While Imran Khan, Vir Das and Kunal Roy Kapoor won many a heart with their foot-tapping number "Switty Switty" in Delhi Belly, Farah Khan’s flick Tees Maar Khan saw Salman Khan dancing away with Katrina Kaif and Akshay Kumar in a qawwali-based song "Wallah Wallah". He had earlier proved his dancing mettle in a rocking number "Bang Bang" in Atul Agnihotri directorial movie Hello. Salman Khan’s shirtless dance in "O! Oh Jaane Jaana" can be called one of the first stints by a male actor in the realm of item numbers.

Taaha Shah, the latest entrant in Bollywood who made his debut with Yashraj Films’ Luv Ka The End has done a full-fledged item song in the movie.

In Heyy Babby, audiences were treated to an item number that normally would have a girl doing all the moves. For a change, the Indian population saw men doing pole dance in Hindi cinema. Quite unusual for the Indian sensibilities. Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh and Fardeen Khan did strip dance swaying to the tunes of Australian Spice Girl Band in English version of the "Heyy Babyy" track. The song was used as a promotional video to woo women audience to the theatres.

In Bollywood, the idea of actors shaking to the beats of item numbers was popularised by Shah Rukh Khan with "Ishq Kamina" in action-drama Shakti. He was joined by screen diva Aishwarya Rai and the duo set the screen on fire with this chartbusting number. Shah Rukh is one of the actors who can be credited with most of sizzling performances in item songs. In Karan Johar’s production venture Kaal, he matched steps with Malaika Arora Khan in the song "Kaal dhamaal". He then went on to dance in the song "Subah subah" from I See You followed by "Dard-e-disco" in Om Shanti Om and "Mast kalandar" in Sajid Khan’s Heyy Babyy. Shah Rukh totally mesmerised the audiences with his nimble moves in "Marjani marjani" with Kareena Kapoor and "Love mera hit hit" where he shared screen space with Deepika Padukone in Billu. Following in the footsteps, Abhay Deol, the modern Devdas too does an item number "Shaher ki Rani" in Sudhir Mishra’s Tera Kya Hoga Johnny.

Check out Shah Rukh’s latest song "Antenna" from his home production, Always Kabhi Kabhi. The song appears at the climax and is shot against the backdrop of a jail set. Laced with rebellious tone, the song conveys to parents and teachers with ease as to how their frequency is different from their wards’.

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh prefers to call the trend as ground-breaking and refreshing. Says he, "Male actors doing item numbers is a sign of cinema undergoing change. This shows that they are also ready to try something new and create an image of their own. Moreover, it also depends upon the demand of the script," he readily quips.

Joining the league next is Amitabh Bachchan. Big B dances to his own golden hits such as "Khaiyeke Paan Banaras Wala", "Rang Barse", "Sara Zamana" among others in his forthcoming film Bbuddha Hoga Terra Baap. Son Abhishek too shook a leg in "One love", a promotional video by the band Blue and Shaan in Mahesh Manjrekar’s action thriller Rakht. This song featuring Abhishek and dusky beauty Bipasha Basu became quite a rage. Abhishek also did item numbers in Mission Istaanbul and Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag, a remake of the 1975 blockbuster Sholay. Here he was seen dancing to a tweaked version of "Mehbooba Mehbooba". But nothing can beat the magic of real life combination of Abhishek, Big B and Ash dancing to the tunes of "Kajra Re" in Bunty Aur Babli.

Hrithik Roshan also succumbed to the craze of item numbers. He did an item song for his sister Sunaina Roshan’s first production "Krazzy 4". Although the film sank without a trace, Hrithik’s moves and shakes made his fans go crazy and its one of his best dance numbers till date. Tusshar Kapoor, too, did a jig in a rocking item song "Manzar" with Ayesha Takia in Rohit Shetty’s movie Sunday. The cool club song was a treat for the music lovers.

"The purpose of actors doing an item number is to add star power to the film. A lot of actors have turned producers and are making films under their banner; so a lot of them also agree to do a special appearance for the camaraderie they share with each other," film critic Omar Qureshi speaks his mind. Shootout at Lokhandwala’s item number "Ganpat" quite struck a chord with the youngsters. In the song, Vivek Oberoi and other cool taporis danced their way into the audiences’ hearts. No wonder, director of the movie Apoorva Lakhia is all for item boys.

Similarly actors of the older crop like Anil Kapoor and Govinda joined Salman Khan in the song "Jalwa" for his movie Wanted. Zayed Khan, who did "Mohabbat hai mirchi", alongside Rakhi Sawant in Chura Liya Hai Tumne doesn’t feel offended by the label of item boy. He opines, "I don’t mind being an item boy as long as the song goes to be a hit. I would love to be an item guy for any of my directors."

Ranbir’s first item number for Salman Khan’s home production, Chillar Party is already hogging the headlines. Ranbir has donned different tapori looks for the song "Tain Tain Phisss". Composed by Amit Trivedi, the song draws inspiration from Rishi Kapoor’s qawwali song "Parda" from Amar Akbar Anthony.

With the big boys of Bollywood doting on their new found love-item numbers, here’s bidding adieu to the item girls and looking forward to see the new crop of item boys dancing their way to glory.

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