Analysis of Item Songs of Bollywood Movies from the Perspective of Gender Inequality.pptx

The term Bollywood is used for Indian cinema. Music is as important a part of the Bollywood films. Songs play a very important role in Bollywood movies because one third of the story is expressed by the songs of the movie. Rap songs are a kind of hip-hop where words are spoken in musical rhyme. Sexual objectification of females refers to treating the fair sex as object and not as person. According to the philosopher Immanuel Kant (1797), “objectification involves the lowering of a person, a being with humanity, to the status of an object.”

1. Analysis of Item Songs of Bollywood Movies from the Perspective of Gender Inequality Submitted to: STC Gender Studies Malaviya Mission Teacher Training Centre Jamia Millia Islamia Presented by: DR. ALKA SAINI Assistant Professor Department of Education Dhanauri P. G. College, Dhanauri , Roorkee, Haridwar (Uttarakhand) Affiliated to: Shri Dev Suman Uttarakhand University, Tihari Garhwal, Uttarakhand

2. Introduction The term Bollywood is used for Indian cinema. Music is as important a part of the Bollywood film s. Songs play a very important role in Bollywood movies because one third of the story is expressed by the songs of the movie. Rap songs are a kind of hip-hop where words are spoken in musical rhyme. Sexual objectification of females refers to treating the fair sex as object and not as person. According to the philosopher Immanuel Kant (1797), “objectification involves the lowering of a person, a being with humanity, to the status of an object.”

3. Item Songs in Bollywood An item number or an item song in Indian cinema, is a musical performance that has little or no relevance to the film in which it is included. Bollywood item songs are the songs where a woman wearing provocative clothes, is served as a sex object among many men through obscene lyrics . The origin of the term "item number" is not certain, but it was first used in the 1999 song 'UP Bihar Lootne ' from the film ' Shool '. Shilpa Shetty was called an item girl for the first time. T he ultimate role of an "item song" is to generate publicity and ensure commercial success by attracting male audiences .

4. The Debate with Gendered Objection This issue was first highlighted after the song Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai ( Khalnayak , 1993) when two political parties namely BJP and Shiv Sena objected to the song considering its lyrics as immoral. They objected to this song because it talked about the female body part which had to be covered. Although it is also true that in many item songs the women are never forced to dance, they dance with their own consent and enjoy. Rahul Bose (2013) said in an interview with Rummana Ahmed, 'Showing nudity and promiscuity in the film is actually insulting to the filmmaker himself. By doing this the filmmaker shows that he knows that at this time you are not interested in watching his film, so he is calling a semi-naked girl to dance, so that you can make up your mind to watch his film. So I think it's a deep self-admission by a filmmaker that he has failed.’ Researchers also noted that sexually explicit and derogatory lyrics especially in hip hop music has been frequently criticized for degrading women and using obscene and offensive words which objectify and exploit women .

5. Conclusion Many say that these songs must be encouraged as they provide freedom of expression to women. But some put up the question that are these songs actually meant to be a platform of freedom of expressions or a medium to please the male gaze. Being a woman, I found these item songs to be the cheapest way to present women to the society to earn money. Item songs use obscene language commonly referred to as " sadakchaap ". These songs inspire men to create a sexy physical image of women in their minds rather than a male counterpart in the society who is capable of much more than just sexy dancing. I found that such activities tarnish the image of women in the society and create inequality in terms of respect. Women must come forward and make society aware about the difference between woman empowerment and freedom of expression for the sake of selling physical beauty of woman. Otherwise, the efforts of women empowerment will remain like a new label on an old bottle and gender discrimination against women will continue only with their consent in the name of women empowerment.

6. Thank You