Munni vs Sheila: The way of the ‘Item Bomb’

“I just went to Vishal-Shekhar with the three words ‘Sheila Ki Jawani’ and told them I wanted a groovy song written and composed around them. That’s how Sheila was born,” recounts Farah. Industry grapevine has it that inspired by the songs’ success,Samir Karnik has also had a similar number shot for his film Yamla Pagla Deewana,starring Dharmendra with sons Sunny and Bobby Deol. Even Rohan Sippy is said to have signed on Deepika Padukone for a steamy remixed version of Dum Maaro Dum for his next film by the same name.

The year may have seen a surge in item songs in Bollywood — the last big success was Beedi,starring Bipasha Basu,in the 2006-release Omkara — but the trend dates back to the ’50s. “Helen remains one of the most memorable names even today. Back then,vamps mostly doubled up as sensuous vixens,” recounts Ramesh Sippy. The classic RD Burman hit Mehbooba,Mehbooba from Sholay had Helen play a gypsy girl,which he terms as the “alternative to the vamp or cabaret dancer image”.

Over the years,the vamp gave way to designated ‘item girls’,such as Arora Khan,followed by the likes of Mallika Sherawat and Rakhi Sawant. But every now and then,top heroines have shed their inhibitions to get groovy and sensuous. Be it Parveen Babi in Namak Halal’s Raat Baaki or Aishwarya Rai’s Kajra Re in Bunty Aur Babli,the craze that followed helped item numbers transcend these barriers.

Filmmakers over the years have stuck to the formula. Even the highly respected Mani Ratnam slots an item track in most of his films — from the over-the-top Rukmani Rukmani in Roja to giving girl-next-door Sonali Bendre a sexy makeover for Humma humma in Bombay and having Mallika Sherawat exude oomph in Guru’s Maiyya maiyya. “It is about having a song that instantly attracts attention,musically as well as visually,more like a novelty factor. This increases the recall value of the film and also helps push the music sales,” explains veteran director Sippy.

Vinod Bhanushali,president-marketing media publishing,T-Series,explains that a film with up to four popular songs is bound to draw audience to the theatres since it implies value-for-money,and item songs are an easier bet to reach that count. He adds,“The bigger the heroine in the track,the larger the chances of success of the song since there is no fantasy like watching the ultimate lead actress do a sensuous number,” he adds.

But Khan contests that. “The casting has to be right,not necessarily big.” he says,citing each of Arora Khan’s successes as examples. “Malaika lends as much grace to an item song as any leading actress would,and that’s what kept her in the industry for this long. It’s a different story that there isn’t anyone else to match up to her.”

But an item number’s casting alone can’t drive its success. “Munni wouldn’t have been the chartbuster it was had the energy of the video not been so contagious — you can see Malaika and Salman are having fun dancing and that makes you want to have fun too,” says Karnik. Shekhar Ravjiani of Vishal-Shekhar,too says that by the time they had written Sheila and recorded the scratch,the team knew they had a hit at hand. “But the way Farah shot the video lent class to the song and Katrina’s body language,working with the choreography finally gave the song that extra oomph.”

Item numbers remixed from old songs,however,aren’t always safe. Urmila Matondkar’s dance for Mehbooba,Mehbooba in Ramgopal Varma Ki Aag was panned,as was Yeh Mera Dil,starring Kareena Kapoor in the Don remake. “There is a sentimental value already attached to the song,and a benchmark already exists in the head of the audience,” explains Bhanushali,hoping that Padukone will more than just fill Zeenat Aman’s shoes in Dum Maaro Dum. “But on the flip side,if the director can get the remaining elements right,a Bollywood classic remix can as good as change the destiny of the film.”