This should come as sweet news to the many women, and not just the feminists, but in Dum Maaro Dum, set to release later this week, the item numbers will be performed by a posse of dudes. Rohan Sippy, the director of Dum Maaro Dum, says that he wanted to give female fans something to cheer about, some eye candy to ogle, and so Abhishek Bachchan, Rana Dagubatti and Prateik Babbar will now gyrate on screen.
Given that women have always been used to add oomph to anything and everything, from ads to films, songs and even calendars, it’s really about time that men started taking their baby steps in the big bad world of item numbers. As for the fans, while most are cheering this move, they remain apprehensive about how well it will pan out. Actor Neetu Chandra says, “Men, including Shah Rukh, Salman, Govinda and Hrithik have all done item numbers. But girls get more footage because they are better at it. A man can dance incredibly well, but they can never be as good as a Munni or a Sheila.”
While women will doubtless enjoy seeing the likes of Junior B and Prateik sizzle on the screen, the men aren’t impressed. “Everybody enjoys a woman dancing dirty, but it’s not the same with men,” says investment banker Ankush Makhija. “I don’t want to see other men take their clothes off and dance in the gym, let alone on the big screen. It certainly isn’t going to make me run to the theatres.”
And once the men do become popular in their new avatar as item dancers, the next logical step, predicts Makhija, would be the objectification of men. “Women objectify men as much as men objectify women. Except that men do it obnoxiously and loudly, while women are more discreet,” he says.
Model turned actor Aditya Singh Rajput says with men, it’s more of a “full rounded personality” that women look for. “People like Malaika Arora and Katrina Kaif are able to perform item numbers in an absolutely fantastic way. Their moves alone can make the song sexy. With men, it’s a completely different ball game; it’s their entire personality. For instance, Hrithik Roshan and Ranbir Kapoor have killed so many women with their moves, but still dancing in item numbers remains a female bastion. This is the way it has been right from the days of Madhuri Dixit in Ek Do Teen,” says Aditya.
— With inputs from Priyanka Kelkar