KARACHI:
Yasir Hussain is no stranger to speaking his truth off screen. Last month he shared his views on extra-marital affairs. Now, in an exclusive interview with Nukta Life, Yasir had some thoughts about ‘item numbers’ in Pakistani films. These are songs that feature a scantily clad “item girl” seductively dancing to provocative lyrics. The song itself usually has little to no link with the plot, the sole purpose being only to draw crowds to the theatre.
Yasir pointed out this double standard where our culture indulges in item songs but widely disapproves it too. “We first need to understand what our culture is. Is it the one before partition or is it after that?” he said.
As Pakistani commercial films have taken off recently, many productions in Pakistani cinema feature an item number with A-list actors such as Ayesha Omar dancing in song Tutti Frutti and Saba Qamar twirling in Kalabaaz Dil.
Yasir continued to elaborate on how this culture of watching dancing women goes back to the pre-partition era.“This did not start today,” he said. “People have always paid to watch women dance so why not acknowledge that? Heeramandi has been around since the Mughal era so there is nothing new about it. We closed all of this down in the 80s but it has sprouted back again in the form of these songs.”
He mentioned how item songs were featured in olden Pakistani films. “ If you watch old movies, you see madam Noor Jehan singing item songs and actresses dancing. It wasn’t a big deal.” he said. “How did it suddenly disappear from our screens? Did we experience a shift in our culture or did we go back in time.”
Expressing his own stance, he said ,“I don’t like item numbers in Pakistan. The reason for that is when I watch Nora Fatehi on screen, I forget about Pakistani item numbers. I can’t drop my standards that low.”
To improve these songs, Yasir had a piece of advice for Pakistani filmmakers. “If you want to make item numbers, then make them of the same level. You can’t be trying to create boundaries and want to see women dance too,” he said.
Finally, the actor suggested that if filmmakers insist on adding them, there should be regulations around them. “What the government can do is charge heavy taxes on them so at least it benefits us,” he said. “You can’t really close them.”
Despite the criticism and hate directed towards the artists, it cannot be denied that the locally produced item numbers rack upto millions of views on YouTube.