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Journalism of Courage
On and off, there has been a lot of debate and discussion around the objectification of women in item numbers in Bollywood movies. From music composer Pritam Chakraborty to actor Juhi Chawla, many from the fraternity and outside have slammed the trend. But this time, the debate is not in India, but in Pakistan. Hamza Ali Abbasi, a theatre, film and television actor took to social media to slam item numbers in Pakistani films.
In a Facebook post that he shared on Twitter as well, Abbasi wrote that it was disappointing to see brilliant Pakistani film-makers “use ITEM NUMBERS to sell their films”. While his post sparked many remarks in the comments’ section, with many reminding him of “Jawani Phir Nahi Aani(JPNA)” — a 2015 film with “bold scenes” in which he plays the lead. Replying to such comments, Abbasi edited his Facebook post and asked them to type in “Hamza Ali Abbasi JPNA” on Google to find out the exact truth.
According to a Dawn report, Abbas defined his involvement in the project as against his beliefs. He even resigned as the culture secretary of PTI following the release of the trailer of JPNA.
“Its heart breaking and disappointing to see some brilliant Pakistani film makers still using ITEM NUMBERS to sell their films. How can the censor board allow such filth to run in cinemas and how can PEMRA allow this to be run on channels? Pakistani artists finally managed to get enough respect in the society that now young educated boys and girls from good families are coming into this field, please dont spoil this hard earned respect by putting on a flesh show and calling it glamour!!! Item songs degrade women and objectify them….which goes against the essence of Women’s Empowerment and Women’s Rights, our religion and our norms. (All those ignorant friends commenting about JPNA, please go to Google, type “Hamza Ali Abbasi JPNA” and you,ll get your answer)”
While Abbasi clearly took a stand against the objectification of women for ‘selling cinema’, some people interpreted it as a post against ‘women going against their culture’. Here are some of them.
This is what others had to say.
https://twitter.com/jasleen_kaur22/status/889178430410903552
https://twitter.com/jasleen_kaur22/status/889178962554871808
