What is an item number?

"Item number" (aka “item song”) is a term commonly used to describe up-tempo musical scores presented along with a well-choreographed, 'high-octane' dance routines in Bollywood films. The 'item number' features an artiste – typically female (referred to as 'item girl') – in a cameo appearance in the movie exclusively for the length of that song. The artiste neither has an acting role nor delivers any dialogues in the movie.

The sexual content of 'item numbers' is always enhanced with suggestive lyrics, racy moves, and revealing dance costumes. Typically packed with a hyper-dose of CNL (cleavage, navel and legs), most item numbers are filmed in a bar or nightclub to create an ambiance consistent with the sexuality the screenplay demands for the song. Sometimes, the item number is so far removed from the theme of the film, that producers (to circumvent the problem) show the item number in the opening and closing credits of films.

Item numbers are included in movies for commercial reasons - increasing marketability of films and boosting box-office collections. Who would not like to watch a sexy item girl perform a sizzling, saucy dance set to a catchy tune and upbeat music. After all, sex sells in India too! In fact, the influence of Western popular (MTV) culture is unmistakable in these songs.

In a nutshell, an item number is pretty much a raunchy 'music video embedded in a motion picture' and is used as a tactic to attract the viewing public.

Sensuous 'song and dance' numbers have been an integral part of Bollywood flicks from as far back as the 50s. These were called 'cabaret songs' and always featured sexual dances in revealing clothes. In a distinctly more conservative society at that time, top actresses would shy away from doing such racy numbers in movies. So, artistes, such as Helen, Bindu and Aruna Irani, would be enlisted in supporting acting (typically negative) roles in movies for these 'cabaret songs.'.

Beginning with the late-80s, some of the actresses in lead roles (such as Madhuri Dixit, Karisma Kapoor, Raveena Tandon, Mamta Kulkarni, etc.) danced to upbeat music in revealing outfits with great success. This trend was probably a reflection of more permissive times in society. Well, these numbers were just 'sexy dance songs' (if only to distinguish them from the earlier genre of 'cabaret songs').

Key Differentiators

Some may argue that all songs in Bollywood movies have little relevance to their respective movie plots. Regardless, they still have a loose connection to the storyline if only to the extent that they are musical renditions of the stories' moods (and its protagonists) at those points in the films.

The cabaret songs (and sexy dance numbers of later years) still do not quite qualify as 'item numbers' because they did NOT entail cameo appearances. Yet, in the last millennium, there were several scores that in today's parlance would qualify as 'item numbers' – most noteworthy being 'Mera Naam Chin-Chin Choo' (Helen in Howrah Bridge – 1958), 'Mehbooba Mehbooba' (Helen in Sholay – 1975), 'Maara Re' (Mamta Kulkarni in Ghatak – 1996), 'Sheher Ki Ladki' (Raveena Tandon in Rakshak – 1996) and so on.