Uber-cool couple
Even A-listers are happy to do the so-called ‘item numbers’ now
Actress Hebah Patel’s racy number Dinchak in Red, and the Bhoom Bhaaddal number by Apsara Rani in Krack, both of which hit the screens during the Sankranti festival, have clicked big time with the masses. The divas matched their steps with hotshots Ram and Ravi Teja respectively, and drew appreciative whistles from the theatre audiences.
And now, the anchor-turned-actress Anasuya Bharadwaj will showcase her oomph in an item number in Chaavu Kaaburu Challaga starring Karthikeya Gummakonda.
“Now-a-days, well-mounted and racy item songs are triggering a lot of hype on social media. I immensely enjoyed performing Dinchak,” says Hebbah.
She feels doing item songs once-in-awhile along with regular acting is a sort of ‘expansion of brand equity.’ “Picking the right ones is key,” she adds.
The craze for special songs certainly seems to be growing, and has attracted even A-listers like Tamannaah, Kajal Aggarwal, Shriya Saran and Shruti Haasan in the last few years. At one time, top-rung actresses were reluctant to do special songs in other films since they were uncomfortable with the term ‘item number’, but it’s a different story now.
The entry of top-league actresses has raised the bar on low-brow item songs and they have been rechristened as ‘special songs’ in Tollywood. The richly-mounted songs are being compared with Bollywood item numbers. Some of the songs that topped popularity charts include Tamannaah’s
Daang Daang in Sarileru Neekevvaru and Swing Zara from Jai Lava Kusa, Kajal Agarwal’s Pakka Local (Janatha Garage), and Shruti Haasan’s Junction Lo in Aagadu.
“No doubt, glam divas have raised the bar on special songs in Telugu movies and it augurs well for big ticket extravaganzas. Also we are spending lavishly and promoting them on par with Bollywood numbers, so top-rung actresses are showing some interest,” says ace producer Ravi Shankar Yellamanchili, who roped in A-lister Pooja Hegde for a swashbuckling number Jigelu Rani in the blockbuster Rangasthalam. Elaborating on the trend, Ravi says, “Sometimes, special numbers by actresses who are not part of the film, triggers a lot of curiosity and hype. Also directors like to place the song at the crucial juncture of the movie to provide some relief to the audience from the serious mood of the film and cater to the masses as well as to the youth.” Supporting the trend of actresses turning ‘item girls’, director Teja says, “Nothing wrong in inserting item numbers in commercial movies since even ace filmmaker Mani Rathnam had item songs in his movies However, it all depends on how a filmmaker intends to design and place it.” Tongue-in-cheek, he says, “Now-a-days, top heroines are scantily clad even in romantic numbers, and their doing item songs doesn’t come as a surprise.” So, the new challenge for filmmakers, he says, is making an item number even hotter. Teja had glam actress Payal Rajput shake her leg for a foot-thumping number Bulreddy in his latest release, Sita.
Munch sought-after dancing queen Hamsa Nandini feels “Special songs and item songs are as different as chalk and cheese.” She says, “I am doing only special songs since they are shot elegantly and designed for a purpose in a movie and at times they also carry the story forward, whereas item songs are loaded with sexual overtures and meant to titillate masses.” The actress showcased her dancing abilities in special songs like Mirchi and It’s time to Party. “Just a week ago, declined a special song since I wasn’t happy with the concept. Dancing is not easy as it looks — it is a special skill. Hence, dancing is not meant for every actress,” she says.
Earlier, top actresses were reluctant to do special songs in other films since they were uncomfortable with the term ‘item number’, but it’s a different story now.The entry of top-league actresses has raised the bar on low-brow item songs and they have been rechristened as
‘special songs’
With workplaces slowly opening up, leaving the comforts of a prolonged work-from-home period doesn’t seem appealing to many. Harjas Sethi, a Gurgaon-based MNC professional, posted a hilarious video, where she ranted about the pains of getting back to work. Many seem to
agree with her
Last year, due to the pandemic, most professionals had to work from home. Now, since the dip in the number of COVID cases, many employees have been receiving emails, asking them to get back to working from their offices. While few do not mind getting back to office, some are not really happy to give up the comforts of working from home.
HO NA PAAYEGA!
Harjas Sethi, a Gurgaon-based MNC professional, seemed to have expressed the exact sentiments through the video she posted on her social media page recently. In the hilarious video, she ranted about the pains of getting back to work, saying ‘return back to office Ho na paayega (It won’t be possible). Then, the
Internet did its thing, and the video went viral. When we spoke with Harjas, whose social media handle is called ‘Vellijanani’, she was candid about what got her to make the video. “It was something honest because we’ve been working from home since March last year,” explains Harjas. “So, when I got an email from my workplace, asking me to return to work, I didn’t know how I could get back to work as I’d got used to working from home. That’s what inspired the video.” Harjas adds that at first people kept re-sharing the video until somebody posted it on Twitter. “Then, I don’t know what happened. To my pleasant surprise, one fine day, the founder of Paytm retweeted it. One thing led to another, and now I have come to understand that a lot of people feel the same way,” she said with a chuckle. Of course, the MNC professional, who lives in Gurgaon with her cat, also stressed about her boss’s reaction to the video especially when she realised a lot of people were tagging her boss in their comments to the video, waiting for her reactions to the video. “Well, my boss, Zoya, whose name I have mentioned in the video, also saw the video as soon as I posted it on Instagram. She took it for the humour in it and asked me to continue making funny videos. She also left a lot of emoticons in the comments section,” states Harjas, who is clearly thrilled about her video going viral, said, “I did not imagine so many people would view the video and retweet it.”