Opinion Team Munni,or Sheila?

Long before she knew it,the Munni bit of her identity began to take over. The song did it to Sadrunissa,who is a domestic help at my house. Nobody would call her name without thinking of the other Munni,or what Malaika Arora Khan breathed into Munni. There had to be some reason why she shared the same name. The association miffed her in the beginning but then she started to love it. She hadn’t realised the Munni lurking within her. Sadrunissa,the coy woman,has faded into the background. These days,she wears kohl and removes her scarf when she leaves my place. It was now time to unleash the other identity,made edgy by the item girl. Ever since the song,Sadrunissa got the odd feeling that when she looked in the mirror it wasn’t her it reflected back,but Munni,the unabashed dancer who claimed she had Shilpa Shetty’s figure and Bebo’s ways. She loves the attention. The roadside Romeos,she says,break into the song “Munni Badaam Hui” (from the recent box office hit Dabangg) when they see her. Then came Sheila,aka Katrina Kaif,the upscale bar dancer,reflecting the urban woman’s aspirations and confidence in her song “Sheila Ki Jawani” (from the forthcoming film Tees Maar Khan). A DJ says the Sheila song is a rage because it personifies the urban new age girl’s independence. But with these two songs,the latest in the item girl offerings,there’s the larger question of what the item girls have done to us women. For long,feminists have been up in arms against the objectification of women,against the privileging of the male gaze,as the audience jeers and whistles during these routines. And it’s not that item girls are a new addition to Hindi cinema. They were around long before Helen,as a gypsy girl gyrating to “Mehbooba Mehbooba” in Sholay personified the trend. However,the tag is new. They weren’t called the item girls then. They were vamps,the ones who did cabaret,the bad boys’ women. So far the item girls were a break from the script,a little digression. Then they became a genre,and they are now being used to promote films. Munni’s creators knew the trick. Provide context and reference,and people will identify. And with the debate on the two latest item numbers,the world of the item girl is now witnessing a class war of sorts. Before this,they only wore one tag. Now,they belong to different classes,like rural and urban India. The great divide has set in. While Munni mainstreamed the rustic,Sheila is trying to do the same to the hip urban woman,who frequents discotheques and is not shy about flaunting her youth. Some even question if they are both item numbers,saying the item girl tag belongs to the likes of Munni who operate in a larger cultural and regional context. On Facebook,a chart is doing the rounds on reasons why Sheila is preferred over Munni. The categories include place of performance and branding. “Munni is badnaam” versus “Sheila is jawan”,it says. Then it is about the place of performance. Munni gyrates in a desi daru ka adda and Sheila in some metropolitan disco bar,which could be anywhere in the world.Sadrunissa isn’t impressed. She can’t be what Sheila is,her world is too alien. Doesn’t feel like it,she said. Munni’s world is her world. She comes from Bihar,has seen nautankis,the latka jhatkas and is comfortable with the setting,the projections. That’s why Sheila can’t be Munni. Her name will not have the same context as Munni’s. Besides,Sheila’s idea has no references. It stands in isolation. A friend said,“Move over Munni,Sheila is here.” On earphones,I heard Sheila’s message. I wasn’t convinced. She spoke fluent English,was too confident of her charms. Even the voices that rendered the individuality to these two songs are drastically different. Munni croons in a husky,loud,assertive and declarative voice. Sheila’s is more feminine,and delicate,and soft. Munni didn’t sing in English. Munni knew the masses,and their points of association — for instance,Zandu Balm. She used lingo we used,she knew things we were used to. That’s where the barriers melted. The artificial rural town setting became her. They served as props to the concept of Munni. Munni has support in inanimate things as well. Sheila has none. Maybe Sheila represents an alternative item number world,or perhaps the segmentation of the item number spectrum. But to me,the charm of the item number will always be in the context,and how the local,regional flavour is used to portray aspirations,sensibilities,culture.

chinki.sinha@expressindia.com