Malaika Arora opens up on being objectified in item numbers

Malaika Arora recently spoke about her experience performing in ‘item dance numbers’. Interestingly, she, too, had a reaction to being compared to Helen.

The actor described doing ‘special item numbers’ in films as a ‘liberating’ feeling at a time when few people were open to the idea. She said that being compared to Helen was the “biggest” compliment she had ever received.

It was Dil Se’s Chhaiya Chhaiya, in which she co-starred with Shah Rukh Khan, that marked the beginning of her stint with item dance numbers. She told Namrata Zakaria on the Tell Me How You Did It podcast that she couldn’t say no when choreographer Farah Khan approached her with the offer.

She said no one had ever filled Helen’s shoes as a dancing diva like she had, Malaika responded, “Firstly, to be compared to Helen aunty is always the biggest, nicest, and most lovely compliment. She was one of a kind.”

The actor elaborated on the concept of ‘item number’ in films and said, “That’s what our films are all about, let’s not hide that fact, let’s not be shy about the fact. That’s what we celebrate in our films. Our films are a celebration of life, they’re larger than life. Yes, the concept now, in today’s day and age, has really dwindled. Because there’s just so much emphasis on not having to objectify, etc. But when I did it, and when I was a part of all those songs, for me it was liberating. It really was.”

She said she never felt ‘objectified’ in the songs because of her portrayal, “I felt that I could just be on screen, as this woman and this object of desire. For me, it was very liberating. I never looked at it as, ‘Oh my God, you’re being objectified’. For me, it felt like I was in control. I’m anyway one of those women, I like being in control, I like being the master of my own destiny. I don’t like being told what to, how to, where to. It felt amazing.”

Malaika has appeared in dance numbers such as Anarkali Disco Chali, Hoth Rasiley, and Munni Badnaam in addition to Chhaiya Chhaiya. In the song Kaal Dhamaal, she reunited with Shah Rukh.