Has the item number gone bust?

This year,it was supposed to be Deepika Padukone’s turn as she snagged the most-wanted Dum Maaro Dum item song in Rohan Sippy’s film. Jaideep Sahni’s lyrics raised many eyebrows. The song works as a rap but if nostalgia is what you hoped the song will rekindle then it doesn’t do that. If you are the kind who watches a song rather than hears it,then Mit jaaye gham (as the Deepika number has been rechristened) might be your cup of tea. I like to sing my words and dance to them,which unfortunately hasn’t happened with Mit jaaye gham. Deepika is lovely,the song has been shot fantastically but it’s just not the item song to which one can groove. It’s not even Khakee’s Aisa jaado daala re,which was good campy fun.

Even the much touted Razia gundon mein phas gayi from Thank You didn’t click as it was supposed to. Mallika Sherawat’s item song was publicised to be the next Munni but it didn’t even come anywhere close to Dabangg’s atomic jhatkas.

Then there is Yana Gupta doing the rustic version of Zeenat Aman’s Qurbani chartbuster,Laila main laila,in Chalo Dilli. I don’t know about you but I much preferred Yana on top of a buffalo in Babuji zara dheere chalo. At least that was a new visual. This one just makes me want to go back to the original and see Zeenat Aman do her thing. By the way,what’s with this sudden Zeenie-baby obsession? At this rate,it won’t be long when someone will come up with a remix version of Satyam Shivam Sundaram. Shudder.

The audience’s lukewarm response to the latest item songs seems worrisome. Is it time to hit the panic button? Has the item song gone bust? Have filmmakers overdone the item,stretched it so much that there is no novelty left? Or is it that repackaging old hits in their new-age avatar has become so banal that the audience is hitting the snooze button?

It can no longer be termed as fascination or tribute. B-town’s obsession with everything retro is proof of its creative bankruptcy. Nobody wants to think of a fresh idea. It’s like everyone wants to dip in the pool of the great ’60s and ’70s,and come out with a tune. Once they get the tune then all that is needed is to remix it,add some loud noise,some club beats,techno it up and voila,you have a new chartbuster. Repackaging seems to be the new word for composing.

For an item song to be a film’s USP,it needs to be unique to that film. Kajra re was Bunty Aur Babli. Beedi was Omkara. Chhamma chhamma was China Gate. Just like Dum maaro dum is Hare Rama Hare Krishna. Period. The moment the RD Burman guitar riff comes on,it stops being anything else.

But is anyone listening?

harneet.singh@expressindia.com