Item number



A Bollywood song designed for only one thing: Fan Service. The song in question traditionally had an Item Girl do a dance for either the hero or the villain, but usually did not involve them beyond ogling the girl in question. Also, the song may or may not have anything to do with the plot, and its lyrics are usually either sexually charged or full of double entendre s. A variation on this would be the heroine to do the Item Number, depending on a few factors: She is either a skilled dancer, a new actress in her first movie, the studio could not afford the Item Girl they wanted, or the movie's promotion was centered around the song in question.

While the term was coined around the 90's, the tradition of a fanservicey musical number has been present in Hindi cinema since at least the 1930's, usually in the form of a vamp character or the villain's girlfriend doing some provocative dance, or "tribal-style" dance numbers in the middle of romance montages.

Since the early 2000's, there has been an increase on numbers having an "Item Boy" instead, usually starring the hero to remark his attractiveness. Abhishek Bachchan was a pioneer of this trend, but it was perfected by Shah Rukh Khan.

Arabic film (or rather Egyptian film, but frankly they're all but synonymous) does much the same thing with a belly dance.

Wikpedia has a (constantly updating) list of List of Item Numbers in Indian cinema, if you are interested.


 * Aishwarya Rai in Kajra Re in Bunty Aur Babli, alongside her future father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan and her future husband Abhishek Bachchan.
 * Malaika Arora (on top of a moving train!) in Chaiyya Chaiyya, in 1998's Dil Se.
 * Deliberately invoked (among with a lampshading of its fanservice nature) in Om Shanti Om, when Shah Rukh Khan's character believes the film he is working in is too dull and claims that such an scene must be added to reflect the mindset of his absurdly crippled character. Cue "Dard-e Disco", an Item Number with him as the main Item, alternately shirtless or in dripping clothing.
 * In the same movie, the number "Dewaangi Dewaangi" is considered another Item Number, albeit the kind of fanservice of that song is based in Celebrity Cameo s and references to every invited star's most famous dance number.
 * "Munni Badnam Hui Darling Tere Liye" from Dabangg (2010) This one lampshades itself. (And, in a way, kind of deconstructs itself, too.)
 * "Nimbooda Nimbooda" in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam featuring Aishwarya Rai. It's a song about lemons, though to be fair, the lemons are being used as a metaphor for the challenges that make life and relationships interesting.
 * "Dola Re Dola" in the 2002's version of Devdas
 * The controversial (because of its title) song "Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai" in Khalnayak, featuring Madhuri Dixit, is considered the Trope Codifier of the modern Item Number. That song title translates as "What's behind the blouse?"... although the answer is far less perverted than one would expect.
 * The opening song to that movie qualifies, too.
 * "Dupatte Ka Pallu" in Tarkieb
 * "Chane Ke Khet Mein" in Anjaam. If you were to just look at the lyrics, it's a song about a rape, but it's being presented as a positive experience, something to sing a happy song about...at a wedding! (It could be read as being about a "rape fantasy" scenario or simply consensual rough sex, but still...)
 * "Mera Piya Ghar Aaya" from Yaraana. (The above mentioned "Munni Badnam" number pays homage to the dance number aspect in Dabanng)
 * Lajja featured two item numbers. The first one is "Aa Hi Jaiye" with Urmila Matondkar. The second one is "Badi Mushkil" with Madhuri Dixit.