When Farah Khan was promoting her third film Tees Maar Khan in December, she said even her triplets Diva, Czar and Anya, under three, were humming Shiela ki jawani. The film, of course, didn?t do well at the box office, but the item number by Katrina Kaif topped every pop chart and became a party-must. Just before Shiela, Dabangg?s item number Munni badnam hui had a similar run, the only difference being Dabangg was a hit. Item numbers suddenly appear to have got a fresh lease of life in Bollywood, and, at least, three upcoming films, UTV?s Thank You, Fox Star Studios? Dum Maaro Dum and Shah Rukh Khan?s Ra.One have sizzling song-and-dance routines.
So, with the success of Munni and Shiela, how important is an item song to a film now? Vijay Singh of Fox Star Studios, producer, Dum Maaro Dum in which Deepika Padukone has an item song, says it depends on the kind of film one is marketing. But having said that, he admits that both Munni and Shiela have given item songs a new lease of life and are seen as huge marketing initiatives. ?Music is always the first marketing tool after the theatrical that the consumer samples upon and, in recent times, it has become a driver of influencing the audience,? he points out.
Star Fox Studios chose to release Padukone?s number during the India-South Africa league match in Nagpur. With 45,000 watching in the stadium, and millions glued in to TV, what better platform than to launch a music video during the cricket World Cup. Even SRK launched his sneak peak into Ra.One during the India-Australia quarter-final at Motera in Gujarat.
For an industry that churns out hundreds of films in a year, and after having faced two bad years, 2008 and 2009, due to the economic slowdown, it?s important, say insiders, to ensure a film is promoted well and gets the audience especially in the opening weekend. Even Tees Maar Khan, whose collections dropped dramatically in the first week had a good opening, not least because of the pull of Shiela. But does a good item song really help the film get box office numbers? According to Singh, all marketing initiatives are to position the film, break the clutter, and get the audience?s attention. ?A hit song can add and help bring audiences in,? he points out.
That film makers are laying some stress on the item song is evident from the manner in which Padukone?s turn in Dum Maaro Dum has been filmed and is being promoted heavily across TV and radio. For Dum Maaro Dum, director Rohan Sippy and Star Fox Studios were in agreement that the narrative of the film needed a film song in keeping with the spirit of the film. ?Given the iconic status of the Dum Maaro Dum song and importantly the script, we knew that it had to be placed in the climax of the film. Its placement was a strategic decision driven by the story of the film,? says Singh.
According to UTV?s Shikha Kapur, an item song, interestingly, leads to an initial attention towards a film. ?Any item song that has featured has more or less been successful in seeking attention and that has been proven for most of the films. Audiences love to watch the song which has their favourite stars dancing on a good track. It leads to a top of mind recall and for a country like ours where people are music lovers and enjoy foot tapping dance numbers, an item song can only make it better for the films,? she points out.
Kapur says a good item song definitely helps to pump up the response to the film in terms of its first weekend opening as it raises curiosity amongst the audience to go and watch the film. ?A good item number is a significant contributor,? she adds. UTV?s next release, Thank You, has an item number by Mallika Sherawat and Kapur says, the ?song is not something that we thought of out of context. In fact, the song is an important moment in the film and falls in sync with the script.?
The song Razia is a situational item song, points out Kapur, ?and we all worked towards it with equal amount of importance to package it in great space with interesting choreography, to make it happen in a good way.?
Is the item song trend here to stay? According to Singh, he sees more films using an item number in the course of films to be released over the next 12 months. Kapur goes a step further and points out that the trend is not only here to stay, but it will get smarter with time. ?It will get smarter in terms of the fact that item song is usually associated with big films with big stars, but it will also become an interesting part of small films in a full-size way.
For example, Emotional Atyachar in Dev D.?
No one is ready to specify how much is being spent on an item song. ?An item song does not have an independent budget, it falls within the overall production budget of the movie as it is finally a part of the whole product,? says Kapur.
There?s at least one director, London-based Sangeeta Datta, who just released Life Goes On, who is unhappy with the business of item songs. ?When I left India, the song Choli ke peeche just released and I remember taking to the streets to protest against the portrayal of women. It?s 2011 now and lazy Bollywood is still concentrating on item songs.?
However, producers and exhibitors aren?t complaining because item songs are, at least, helping to get the audience in.
