Recent Developments
Many top stars in Bollywood now do item numbers, and many new women entering Bollywood find item numbers a more amenable shortcut to success, as opposed to more traditional roles with no guarantee of eventual stardom. Former item girls in pop songs outside films, Rakhi Sawant and Meghna Naidu, for example, are now quite in demand and very popular. Today, they are even being given lead roles in commercially successful movies. As of 2007, Mallika Sherawat has become the most expensive "Item Girl", as she charged Rs. 15 million (roughly US$375,000) for the song "Mehbooba Mehbooba" in Aap Ka Suroor - The Real Love Story. Actress Urmila Matondkar is one of the most successful item girls. She was featured in "Chamma Chamma" in the 1998 film China Gate. Baz Luhrmann's 2001 film musical, Moulin Rouge! used a westernized version of this song.
Malaika Arora Khan and Yana Gupta are "official" item number dancers. They have said they don't want to act in movies since they earn sufficient amount of money by just doing one song.
Abhishek Bachchan became the first "item boy" with his performance in Rakht; Shahrukh Khan also performed an item number during the opening credits of Kaal but had an item numbers in a truer sense of the word with "Dard-e-Disco" in Om Shanti Om, where he was shot in typical "item girl" manner with bare six pack abs (though this number did have a tenuous connexion with the plot of a film within a film), and in Krazzy 4. Also in Krazzy 4, Hrithik Roshan has an item number during the end credits. Ranbir Kapoor, son of legendary Bollywood stars Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh, made his debut in an item number in Chillar Party (2011); the song draws inspiration from Rishi Kapoor's Qawwali song "Parda" from Amar Akbar Anthony.
Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone are featured in three different songs in Red Chillies Entertainment's 2009 film Billu. The items are justified as part of a film within a film.
In the 2007 film Om Shanti Om, the song "Deewangi Deewangi" had guest appearances by over 30 Bollywood stars. In 2008, the makers of Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi featured Kajol, Bipasha Basu, Lara Dutta, Priety Zinta, and Rani Mukerji playing as five classic leading ladies, opposite Shahrukh Khan on the song "Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte".
In 2010, Katrina Kaif featured in "Sheila Ki Jawani" from Tees Maar Khan, and Malaika Arora Khan featured in "Munni Badnaam Hui" from Dabangg. Parallels were drawn between Katrina and Malaika, as well as between the item numbers, in what was popularly known as the "Munni vs Sheila" debate. The songs became so popular, that a new trend was started whereby many more films began incorporating item numbers, and top stars now wanted to do them.
Read more about this topic: Item Number
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