The making of an item number

It’s the third day into the shooting of the item song Shake It Saiyaan,composed by Vishal-Shekhar,for David Dhawan’s

Rascals,where Haydon is supposed to seduce Sanjay Dutt,one of the leading men in the film. The ‘flirting’ begins against a neon signboard that spells out the song’s title. Haydon and Dutt shuttle between six different settings — a bar,brick wall,bike on a rotating platform,swimming pool,jungle and translucent enclosure made from acrylic,with eight Australian dancers grooving along.

However,little of it looks as sexy as it sounds. Amidst a crew of over a 100 members screaming instructions,loading blocks of wood to build the set,holding the lights at the correct angle,laying out the snack buffet and sweating it out to keep the shoot going,Haydon’s ‘sensuousness’ seems misplaced,almost bordering on comical.

The song is brought in as a sequence where Haydon mistakes Dutt for Ajay Devgn and ends up with the former. Like with all dance songs,which drive the album sales,a liberal chunk from the film’s budget has been set aside for this. Dhawan refuses to spill the beans.

Though it was Dhawan’s call to include the dance number in the film,on the set,Martin is the one calling the shots. The veteran filmmaker,meanwhile,flits about,socialising with crew members,taking stock of the rest of the shooting schedule and,at times,just watching the choreographer take charge. “The concept is Bosco’s,so he is the best person to realise it,” says Dhawan.

The choreographer is the boss on the sets when a song is being shot and his or her involvement mostly begins as soon as the song has been composed. “After Davidji made me listen to the song,I designed its concept and the set along with his team,” says Martin.

This complicated set took close to ten days to put together. “We had set it up in four days,initially. But Bosco had it rebuilt because the earlier set wouldn’t have allowed certain angles and visual shots,” recounts producer Sanjeev Ahluwalia.

The concept also determines the choreography. But much also depends on the actors performing on the song. “The crucial aspect is to cast a good dancer,who is willing to experiment with looks and genres. She should also be comfortable with her body and be willing to work hard because an item number requires a lot of booty-shaking,” adds the choreographer,who has recently worked on Dum Maaro Dum’s title track that has Deepika Padukone do a sizzling number.

Dutt,though the star on the set,has little to do in comparison. As it happens with all item numbers,Haydon gets the spotlight while the actor merely needs to swagger in and match steps with the girl.

Haydon has eight different costumes for the song,designed by Aki Narula. Her look for the song has been inspired by Lady Gaga and The Pussycat Dolls. “The outfits have a biker-ballerina feel for a masculine-meets-feminine look. One of my outfits has a tutu and another comprises a leather jacket and a high ponytail. It’s sassy as opposed to vulgar,” says Haydon. “As an actor who is hoping for a sturdy Bollywood career,I was apprehensive about doing an item song,but when I was told about the music-video treatment for Shake It Saiyaan,I was relieved.”

Haydon’s make-up surprisingly follows ‘the-lesser-the-better’ rule — kohl eyes and nude lips. “To look sensuous on camera,you have to merely highlight the eyes and the lips and give her skin a dewy feel,” says make-up artist Mahek Valecha as she touches up the actress’ lips with gloss.

Each of Haydon’s looks,which take close to two hours to put together including hair,make-up and costume change,will not be seen in the video for more than 50 seconds. But shooting each of these 50 second-themes took close to four hours. Once the set was made ready for shooting,the lights and camera were set up as per the cinematographer Vikas Sivaraman’s instructions. Rehearsals — first by Martin’s team and then by Haydon and Dutt — were followed to the choreographer and cinematographer’s satisfaction.

Martin,Dhawan and the team are huddled in front of multiple screens that help monitor the shooting. Just before the cameras are set to roll yet again,crew members rush in to clean the footprints off the turntable even as the stars begin the countdown. Given the prevailing humdrum,it is tough to believe that anything remotely glamorous will come out of it. But as soon as Martin calls for action,all one can see in the frame is Haydon,bending over Dutt on the bike as the neon sign flashes ‘Shake it Saiyaan’.