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Entertainment Helen left her fans gasping with numbers like “Mungda”, “Piya Tu”, “Mehbooba” and so on. But she was never termed an item girl. Journalist Jerry Pinto wrote a book on her titled Helen: The life and times of an H-Bomb. Back in the 1960s, Helen’s name on film posters were magnified and given more space than the heroine’s. Helen was effortless… she was a born item girl. She had class, and hence even her skimpy costumes never looked vulgar on-screen…yet with oodles of sex appeal. A dance number by Bindu or Aruna Irani was like an insurance policy for the film’s success. Bindu’s “Mera naam hai Shabnam” number in Kati Patang is remembered till this day. Other dancers who became famous were Madhumati, Lakshmi Chhaya, Padma Khanna, Meena T and Jayashri T among others. Today, top stars in Hindi and regional cinema are vying with each other to perform item numbers in films in which they do not have any role at all. Every single star beginning with Urmila Matondkar through Sushmita Sen to Aishwarya Rai, Lara Dutta, Kareena Kapoor, Bipasha Basu, Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone have performed item numbers, including item number ‘specialists’ like Malaika Arora, Mallika Sherawat, Raakhee Sawant, Yana Gupta, Sameera Reddy, etc. Even a historical film like Asoka had an item number. They do not care about the bawdy lyrics dotted with invectives people would have cringed from a decade ago. Heroines are eagerly stepping in to perform item numbers because “the money is good.” Aishwarya was reportedly paid Rs 2 lakh for her item number in Bunty Aur Babli.
Madhuri Dixit’s scintillating item number in Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani with an actor much younger than the star, has reinforced the boxoffice value of Madhuri Dixit’s item number where her ghaghra travels all the way, metaphorically, from Baghdad to Dilli to Agra — what rhyming and what timing! What most of us did not know is that she was paid around Rs 4 lakh for that single item number that had nothing to do with the story! ‘Objectifying’ words that now considered offensive to women like “Chikni chameli”, “Jalebi bai”, “Hulcut jawaani”, “Namak lage ishq ka”, “Sheila ki jawaani”, “Munni jawan hui” are used in the lyrics generously while the Censors keep their ears plugged and give the film an unabashed U or UA certificate and the audience goes wild watching the titillating promos on satellite channels. None of these numbers have any purpose except to pull the audience, predominantly male. Some dance numbers performed by the top stars leave much room for improvement because actresses like Katrina Kaif and Kareena Kapoor have two left feet. Their star charisma still works for films like Agneepath where Katrina sticks out like a sore thumb in her badly executed item number “Chikni chameli” despite the publicity hype. The Dirty Picture (2011) directed by Milan Luthria turned the tables on item numbers because the entire film lends itself to a reading as ‘item number’. The film shows how Silk Smitha, a real-life star who was better known as an ‘item number’ in South Indian cinema, portrayed so brilliantly and expressively by Vidya Balan, could twist an entire audience of males round the thick little finger of her right hand with her abundant hips, generous thighs and ample cleavage she practically thrust at her audience. Does an item number really have any meaning? Sometimes, it does like the “Choli ke peechhey kya hai” number in Khalnayak. It denotes meanings in the lyrics enhanced by the music and the rhythm and the rendering of the song. But it generally does not suggest any meaning to add to the story of the film. The prize, if any must go to Aishwarya Rai’s item number says, “Sexy lady on the floor”, a variation on the hit Tata Young number in Dhoom II, which is a brilliant combination of skimpy costume, bronze make-up, imaginative choreography and a mind-blowing performance that projects her sexuality aesthetically without investing it with indecency or obscenity.
Director’s special Today every man is a showman. On television, I see a showman everyday.” Now who can say that? Who else, but the original showman, Subhash Ghai, whose name is synonymous with the sobriquet conferred on him way back in 1982.
He is perturbed about the direction in which the youth is headed to, their alienation and distancing from their cultural roots. However, he understands the pulls and pressures of the young generation too well. Their predicament is the leitmotif of his next film Kaanchi. Upbeat about his new project to be released sometime in February, he says, “Wait and watch my new find. Mishti is going to be a superstar.” The filmmaker, who has given us superstars like Madhuri Dixit, states his reasons for working with new talent. He says, “When you cast a superstar, you have to follow his whims and fancies and his star status while newcomers dovetail themselves, according to the demands of the script.” If your memory jogs down to days when he worked with the likes of Anil Kapoor, Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai et al, he reminds, “They were not superstars back then, only rising stars.” Anyway, he believes that there are two ways of living life — one to be a leader and another to be a follower. Since he chose to lead, his films have essentially and intrinsically remained his signature touch. A Subhash Ghai film is what he promises Kaanchi will be. On the last leg of shooting of the film, he is looking for the perfect face (latka jhaktas) for an item song. Why does a Ghai film need an item number? He smiles, “Why do you need chutney in a buffet. A film, too, has to have all kinds of spices. Our audiences have grown up with sensibilities attuned towards appreciating song and dance. ” Music, anyway, is an integral part of the films of the director-producer, who has a keen ear for music. For someone known to have ghost-recorded music of his films, however, he rubbishes the suggestion that he will be giving music for Salman Khan productions’ first film Hero, which incidentally is a remake of Ghai’s own superhit film. He qualifies, “I will be supervising the music of the film but I am no composer.” On remakes, all he would say is, “I am okay with it. But I won’t make one for my mind is brimming with new ideas.” So how does he know which idea will make itself into a movie? He replies, “When it comes back to haunt me like Karz did.” Interestingly, he tells us that Karz wasn’t a hit initially but became one after 10 years of its release. Having tasted success film after film, how has he taken the failure of his films like Yuvvraj? He muses philosophically, “When you are set to climb summits, life can never be a straight road.” Beyond success and failure, what matters to him is whether he is evolving with time and keeping pace with the winds of change. Retaining the passion of a child, proud of the Kaanchi (read fire) within him, he insists he has his hands on the pulse of the youth. Will he once again hit the bulls eye with Kaanchi... you and me might reserve our opinions till the movie hits the screens, in his mind journey itself is worth the final destination, whatever be the final verdict. Call of Punjabi cinema In Chandigarh to announce his foray into Punjabi cinema, Subhash Ghai reveals that this is not the first time his production house Mukta Arts has ventured into regional cinema. Having made Marathi, Bengali and Kannada films, he observes, “Till the other day, there was no market for Punjabi films.” Even today, he feels that the budget of Punjabi movies is nowhere close to that of Telugu or Tamil films. Will his production house raise the bar? More importantly, he promises that once his film recovers its money, he will make many more Punjabi movies. Only those would be based on literary classics.
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Cabaret-like
Dismissing the title as a media creation, “I am a simple person”, the man, who has given us magnum opuses like Karma and Vidhaata is, indeed, every inch the regular guy next door.