Actor Shabana Azmi has been vocal about the many issues that plague the film industry. Over the years, she has spoken on issues such as women’s rights and the rights of marginalised communities. The award-winning actor was a speaker at the We the Women event held in Mumbai, where she shared her thoughts on the impact of item numbers in films. Item numbers generally feature female actors dancing on energetic beats and often contain sensual imagery. (Also read: Ayesha Khan says it became a ‘national joke’ after she shared that she shot Dhurandhar song Shararat during her period)
What Shabana said
Talking about item numbers, Shabana said, “Cinema is defined by the image. So when you have disconnected images, like for example, a heaving bosom, or shaking navel, you cut them into fragments and how the camera moves around the body is what decides what the intention of the director is. I feel in an item number, a woman loses all control and surrenders to the male gaze.”
‘What then worries me is the society’s reaction to it’
She continued, “So she is objectifying herself, and some of the lyrics which she is singing… I find it extremely, extremely uncomfortable and I disagree with it. A lot of women say that if males can do it then why shouldn’t we do it? But if the males are willing to get objectified why should you agree to get objectified? I have a very big problem with that and most of the time it has nothing to do with the story. It is a thing by itself. What then worries me is the society’s reaction to it, because then you go to these functions and there are little children singing Choli ke Peeche kya hain (a famous item number) and everyone is laughing to them. Nobody is paying attention to the words and are just going with it.”
Although Shabana only named one item song in her comments, some of the more recent examples in Bollywood include Munni Badnaam Hui, Sheila Ki Jawani, Jalebi Bai, Aaj Ki Raat, and Dilbar, to name a few.
Meanwhile, Shabana is the only actor to win the National Film Award for best actress five times – for Ankur, Arth, Khandhar, Paar and Godmother. The actor is often credited for being one of the prominent faces of the parallel cinema movement in India. She was last seen in the Netflix series Dabba Cartel.
