"Item" numbers
I have wondered about the life of the women who perform in the so called "item" numbers & are branded as "item" girls & the like. If you are still unsure of what I am referring to, you may check here and here. There are many others too....!
Well some may have been forced or compelled, some for the want of money or fame, but I guess they are still there cos they like it! They want all the lime light & would like to be branded as the "sex symbol" I only ask WHY? I mean why do they want to be branded thus?
Agreed they are a big source of entertainment & lust quenchers for many but then what sort of a life do they have? Do they ever get any respect? Are they ever looked up on? What do their families & friends ever think of them? Can the family ever feel proud of their daughters' profession? Will they ever have a decent / normal family life?
Yes they are doing it as a profession, for a living I am sure......but is it at the cost of self dignity?
There is also the other side....the %age of women these days who tend to wear skimpy clothes are on the rise, pre-marital sex is getting more common, women smokers are also increasing. But still these "item" girls are branded thus. And their talent for acting is not even considered.
Even the other actresses like Aish & Bipasha do reveal. But y the difference & why this brand to them?
In my point of view it is maybe cos Aish, Bipasha etc r branded as actress...they do more of acting (& releaving is just a part of it!). Also they dont carry that "oomph" image of themselves. They portray themselves better. And they have got a class in them.
The "item" women may become succesful in what they wanted to achieve. But do they justify this saying - "Success is measured, by what you had to forego in achieving the same."
Well some may have been forced or compelled, some for the want of money or fame, but I guess they are still there cos they like it! They want all the lime light & would like to be branded as the "sex symbol" I only ask WHY? I mean why do they want to be branded thus?
Agreed they are a big source of entertainment & lust quenchers for many but then what sort of a life do they have? Do they ever get any respect? Are they ever looked up on? What do their families & friends ever think of them? Can the family ever feel proud of their daughters' profession? Will they ever have a decent / normal family life?
Yes they are doing it as a profession, for a living I am sure......but is it at the cost of self dignity?
There is also the other side....the %age of women these days who tend to wear skimpy clothes are on the rise, pre-marital sex is getting more common, women smokers are also increasing. But still these "item" girls are branded thus. And their talent for acting is not even considered.
Even the other actresses like Aish & Bipasha do reveal. But y the difference & why this brand to them?
In my point of view it is maybe cos Aish, Bipasha etc r branded as actress...they do more of acting (& releaving is just a part of it!). Also they dont carry that "oomph" image of themselves. They portray themselves better. And they have got a class in them.
The "item" women may become succesful in what they wanted to achieve. But do they justify this saying - "Success is measured, by what you had to forego in achieving the same."
posted by Has to be me @ 11:00 AM
31 Comments:
At 12:07 PM,
Ponnarasi Kothandaraman said…
Me me me 1st 2 comment..
Tht was a very nice post..Thought provoking and many times i hav wondered as y they r categorised tht way. Ur blog answered :)
At 2:40 PM,
Patty said…
I think people take this route in life because of that need that each of us has and that is to feel loved. What better way to feel loved than to have thousands of adoring fans? Well, I can think of a few, fame is NOT my idea of the way to be loved, but with all the want-to-be actors out there it must be lots of people.
I too think of these people's families, and believe that at least some of the time what the family member ends up doing is justifying the person's actions to help them accept the person's choices. Justification...something else most of us are good at doing, as a means of validating our behavior.
At 7:01 PM,
By Deepa and Supriya said…
I dunno..maybe they are just doign it in the name of profession...what choice do you have ..if you are an aspiring actress and don't have many opportunites ot prove yourself....I really wish the songs would be done a little more tastefully though....since they will never do way with those songs.
At 7:40 PM,
Arunkumar said…
superb post. i too have the same qns.. wont they think about, how the society sees them off-stage? am sure they dont earn any respect outside the media.
forget society,what abt family members? what will they teach the kids? its left to them but i only feel bad when i think abt their personal life (whenever i occasionally think, that is..)
At 9:00 PM,
Priya said…
H2bee: I will call that success as cheap. We shud not blame western civilization. People look/want a change and go for it. I f someone has the guts to showoff others follow too.
At 10:52 PM,
mommyof2 said…
We were talking about the same thing after watching malaika Arora Khan's interview last saturday. Karan Kohar was kept saying "I don't care about the inner you all we want to talk about is outer you". She laughed but I think it was veryyyyyy bad..
At 1:32 AM,
starry said…
Interesting post.have thought about this before.sometimes people will go to great lengths to get fame.
At 9:33 AM,
Unknown said…
adhu appadi illinga... glamour and "oomph" is what sells nowadays. Audience love it. It the duty of the actors to give what the audience like, right? That's why they go for it.
But still I wonder what the son/daughter of these "item" girls think when they see the intimate scences in the future!
At 2:45 PM,
Shanthi said…
oru ponnuga... i think her name is diya... she came in uruppudaadha movie as one vamp like character. i just started hating her so much ! paatukku dance aaduravangalaavadhu anju nimisham... ivanga padam pooraam appadiyae varuvaanga.
then to my shock something happened... i saw her interview... her parents... i was astonished to hear that she does her prayers everyday... can cook traditional iyer aathu samaiyal and her parents where so much proud of her !
not really sure whey she acted in such a character...
after the interview saw her in a movie called kodambakkam and was really liking her...
Sila college ponnunga ippo pandradha vida item girls are perfectly fine for me.
At 2:54 PM,
my life.... said…
sad but its true as wat u have said.... a number of them wanted fame and nothing else... but they ahve forgotten that it might affect their life in the long run... if the parents support them, then its a different issue... but i guesssome are focrced into this... they just have separate personalities...they wld be entirely differeing in terms of their character in both their personal and work life... also the media can be blamed for that... today every society stumbles upon dignity and decorum... where are they? the culture has been diluted so much that these ppl have forgotten their origin and roots... actually alot of factors are involved... just wanting to shoot to fame is an exemplary example of immaturity...
At 7:34 PM,
Syam said…
enna thaan sollunga item number item number thaan... :-)
At 9:41 PM,
Harish said…
The problem is that we brand them by their value. If Aishwarya rai reveals she is sexy and if malikka does it is slutty. The perception varies and so does the projection by media.
But yes...as u said Is this fame worth of all the loss of self dignity? Wish we could have them answer us :-(
At 12:25 PM,
How do we know said…
i am sooo glad to find one other person who agrees with me on this item no. thing.
Why are they called Item nos? because they make an item of themselves and present it on a platter... look all you want format.
What is the other word for it? Hmm.. commoditisation??
At 6:19 PM,
Anonymous said…
HTBM, I do agree, for some it's thru 'such cheap means,It is all about making a living or seeking attention thru' their actions .
In today's scenario, It's quite interesting to note what everybody uses as a "Success metric "
There are a lot of people in the Blog world , a lot smarter than I am & I 'm sure you would get more interesting replies to expand this conversation thru' their wisdom and insight....:)) will be back later!
At 2:19 AM,
Ar Ar Ar Arrrrr said…
Just in evening I had this thought while watching FANAAH for like 56th time...
Kajol is blind in that movie..but still she manages to woooo a boyfriend.... then she gets laid...and before that she even has her own item (group dance rather) in that movie.
So if new actresses are given a role of a blind gal, they still have hope in our bollywood for lot of scope ;)
At 4:24 AM,
Keshi said…
There has to be all sort of women for this world to realise who are the best.
**but is it at the cost of self dignity?
true. Some women will go to any length to reach success as they define it. It's disgusting. But as u mentioned, Aish/Bips they do have a class of their own and they dun look cheap or get involved in dirty scandals.
Keshi.
At 6:59 AM,
Cecilia said…
Alot of women nowadays resort to stuff like this for money..if not fame..so we might condemn the item girls but sometimes our very neighbours have item girls hidden behind their outward 'good' images..only difference its done in secret..
At 10:36 AM,
Aditi said…
hmm i dont get the logic behind wanting to be item numbers either.. i guess they think its a fast track to the movies
At 10:52 AM,
Artnavy said…
i often wonder what the parents ( fathersin particular) feel about their daughters as item girls- are they embaressed or do they disown or are they proud?
At 11:10 AM,
Itchingtowrite said…
all said and done the item nos act as the hook for the movie.. most of the music trailers shown wud be item nos... they are played in all discos/ they are a DJ's delight on the dance floor. and people love item nos..one must take it as their chosen career i suppose and as long as they conduct themselves well i feel it does not matter. look at malaika.. she has many item nos to her credit but the attitude towards her is different from mallika/ rakhi ..
At 12:49 PM,
Ekta said…
well to me..its just a profession...priorities in life are different and guess everyone is trying to survive and make something of thier lives...all i say is each to themselves...
At 3:21 PM,
Ganesh Ranganathan said…
Well its for one and only reason, Money, money and money..
AS for Mallika Sherawat, her father publicly disowned her in a newspaper interview
At 7:47 PM,
KK said…
First thing I guess when people enter cine field they throw everything other than money and fame. Thats my humble opinion...
Cine field has never been considered a good profession... Its all the more worse for an item girl...
They have taken that profession probably because they value money and fame more than dignity or anything else. It was their choice finally...
Whatever said The item song trend is back... 80's and 90's had less of it... prior to it movies surely had cabre dances for sure... now item songs..
At 4:39 AM,
di.di said…
this is very subjective.. the way i see it, being sexy is a tool to be famous and get more offers... but it doesnt mean if u covered up u wont be famous... i dont blame the actresses.. i blame the industry, the fans... the media.. it takes two to tango!
At 10:57 AM,
gils said…
:D :D idhu neenga purposea poteengala illa accidentanu therila..intha topicuku etha stmnt
//Success is measured, by what you had to forego in achieving the same."//
ROTFL...
At 11:50 AM,
Rebelzz said…
Well, I dnt think there is anything remotely being branded an item girl or a sex symbol.. It is just a profession.. Because when they come back home, they are just normal ppl.. And I dnt think they are losing all that much.. Maybe there was a taboo associated with them a few yrs back, but now they are treated just as normally as movie leads.. So, whats the big deal! It s not that they are sleeping ard!
At 3:03 PM,
smiley said…
i was just wondering what would be those ladies answers or views on these questions/topic projected?
They might have their own reasons...
At 7:01 PM,
SCRIBBLEZ TO WAKEUP said…
I love this post...I detest the "items"..They r just items n since they love wht they do I dont even feel pity towards these people..In the cases u have mentioned, they went against their fathers...For being known as a sex symbol...Ask a guy n he will tell u tht he watches those girls as they show...I am not very tollerant towards the types of them n have ended up in several arguments n havce reached a stage where I have nothing tasteful to talk about them or feel bad tht they r splitting their image...Its like burning your house n then expecting your neighbour to feel bad for u tht you burnt your own house down with full knowledge...Crazy dumb wits to the core..I heard some strange statements Mallika gave on NDTV..She said she was educating Indians about kissing when she kissed in her many movies...Now wht an educator, should I suggest her name for some award when millions are illetrate she wants to teach people to kiss via TV..Saying tht live on a news network was something tht showed she is empty within..Ooops..I spilled alot here..Sorry about tht!
At 12:33 PM,
the mad momma said…
Well, to begin with, when you say, how do they face society, you must stop and think which society. we few bloggers are not society. there are worlds and worlds out there who are quite comfortable with someone earning an honest living with dancing in a particular manner. these women are not really seeking your or my approval.
second. this is what fame is about. you pay a price for it and after a point the money is so much it blurs all other considerations.
three. why should they be the only ones to feel shame. shouldnt manu sharma's lawyer or any other lawyer representing a criminal feel shame to mix in society? shouldnt amitabh bacchan hide his face after getting aishwarya married to a tree? shouldnt cricketers who sell out the country hide their face in shame? these people are all big names and face the world shamelessly so why should we judge some women who are doing an honest job and earning money?
At 1:02 PM,
Sat said…
Very interesting topic there!
Well, the concept of 'item girls' is just a bit indianised form of what the hollywood calls or used to call; 'bomb shell' hehehe...if you remember marilyn monroe and the likes were the blonde bombshells and when their period (of course there were a lot more better and stronger reasons for it) was considered the golden age of hollywood! They didn't stay on top because of their histrionics :) The point is in a glamorous field like movies, there has to be the 'oomph' factor, and hence the long list of 'oomph'matis who haunt the industry. Believe me, it's quite a position well seeked after. it's just about a woman's pride and willingness to flaunt her beauty...But there’s nothing wrong with it. Women have used their beauty and sex appeal in a far more cunning manner (some for the better some for worse), Cleopatra for instance :)
The reason may be anything, money, instant fame...we’d have to accept that they’re also another breed of ‘actress’es, so long as the audience craves for their presence on screen, they will be around!
In fact, it would be better if the honourable public which mostly demands that they be around doesn’t make life hell for them by stalking them on one hand and staging protestations condemning their revealing videos ont he other! and give them whatever dignity that they deserve. To shun them would be plain hypocrisy!
At 12:00 PM,
Prabhu said…
I believe there is no difference between any actress - whether they are regular/item/porny. They all sell their skin to earn money/fame. They are same as prostitutes and prostitutes are better than actresses. Those who support the actresses should also support prostitutes. In a interview, a ex dance bar girl told we are not spoiling the society and we perform only within 4 walls but think about the film actress and models, they not only spoil the general public but also the children. I feel its 100% true. The so called moral police should first correct the actor(both male and female) first and then come to the general public.
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