The 'item' Heroine

In an age dictated by short attention spans that demand continuous stimulation, is it any wonder A-list heroines are grabbing their three minutes of onscreen time? Going by the film's promos, one can be forgiven for assuming that Katrina Kaif has a prominent role in the upcoming Karan Johar production, Agneepath.  Many of the film's trailers revolve around her undulations to the chartbuster Chikni Chameli. But the truth behind this impression is that Kaif is only making a special appearance in the film.  Of course, Kaif nails the showstopper, alternating spurts of vigorous athleticism with eroticised grace. Ergo the buzz. Kaif enthuses, "The response to Chikni Chameli has been fun. It is a great song, and we have all had a blast doing it. I hope it goes on to become really popular." No worries there -- the song's popularity is already another bingo moment for the actor.  Little wonder then that the formula has taken Bollywood by storm. Kaif is only the latest in a line of A-list heroines to perk up a movie by performing a high-wattage dance, and then disappearing from the film.  Ash did it The credit for this trend of top-drawer actresses doing item numbers (a colloquialism for an often raunchy and risque dance) in another heroine's film can be traced back to Aishwarya Rai's (sans the Bachchan tag at that time) hugely popular Kajraare number from Bunty Aur Babli, which almost ended up overshadowing leading lady Rani Mukerji's presence in the film. Today, leading ladies have taken pride of place in the flurry of Munni-Sheila-Dhanno-Razia-Jalebibai-Silks. Take the case of art film darling Chitrangda Singh, who is excited about her item number Kaafirana for Shirish Kunder's forthcoming Akshay Kumar-Sonakshi Sinha starrer Joker. She says, "Kaafirana, my song in Joker, has been choreographed by Farah Khan and it's fantastic. I love dancing and though I am not really a trained dancer (I have just done two years of Kathak), dancing comes naturally to me. Kaafirana will change my image." She's learnt well. Last year, Deepika Padukone's new-age hippy act, in the remake of the iconic number Dum maaro dum, which starred Bipasha Basu in the lead, had generated more buzz than even the alleged Rana Dagubatti-Basu affair at the time.  Kaif herself has done the item number act more than once -- remember the title track of Salman Khan-Kareena Kapoor starrer Bodyguard?  The fantastic response to the film's trailers featuring her had all journalists asking Kapoor if she was threatened, which she vehemently denied. "We are good friends and we belong to the same fraternity and we all live like a big family, " she had said. Why actresses become items So why is every actor worth her salt going down the item number route? Besides the obvious desire to change, enhance or simply tweak her image, a heroine finds item numbers attractive primarily because, in a male -dominated industry, she enjoys being the sole focus for those few minutes. Karan Malhotra, director, Agneepath, reasons, "It is pretty clear why heroines choose to do these songs -- the impact is so huge that despite not being a part of the whole film, the actor is noticed in a big way."  New heroines too have wisened up to this strategy and try to follow their more successful predecessors.  Jacqueline Fernandez has moved on from doing an item number (Dhanno) in Sajid Khan's Housefull to being one of the heroines in its sequel. Mallika Sherawat has become a veritable special appearance specialist, managing to remain in the news eight years after Murder thanks to songs such as Maiyya Maiyya (Guru) and Razia Gundon Mein Phas Gayi (Thank You).  'Out' numbering the lead?  But how does the leading lady of the film feel when confronted with the knowledge that her thunder may well be stolen by some killer gyrations?  Kunder points out that logically, they cannot protest. "The actor is aware that since she plays a certain character in the film, she cannot suddenly break into a dance at some point in the script. But the film needs a sexy number so A-list actors are brought in as special dancers."  He adds, smiling, "The same actor may not get to do an item song in this film but she will do an item song in somebody else's film. It's a given so no one gets upset."  True to form, Priyanka Chopra claims complete equanimity about Kaif's Chameli act in her film, Agneepath.  "I am really excited. Her being a part of this film will add so much to the movie. I love the song and I've seen only bits of it because I have been busy shooting, but I'm sure she will be incredible."  Asin too claims not to mind that the item number from Ready, Character Dheela Hai, fell into newcomer Zarine Khan's lap. She rationalises, "The song introduces Salman's character. I don't think it would have made sense for me to do the song before my character has even been introduced in the film. But I got to dance to a Dhinka chika." However, Asin isn't sure she would do a number in another heroine's film. "If I get a good song as a special appearance maybe I would consider it, but not really an item number in the sense of the word." Don't be surprised, however, if dissenter Asin, forsakes the high ground, and joins the item dancers soon.