She made a special appearance in the song Love mera hit hit (from Billu; 2009) with Shah Rukh Khan, seven years ago. She was seen in the title track of Dum Maro Dum (2011), and also made heads turn with her sultry outing in the song Lovely from her 2014 film Happy New Year. In Bollywood parlance, such tracks are called ‘special numbers’ or ‘item numbers’.
But Deepika Padukone finds the definition “strange”. Now, she has shot for a special dance number for film-maker Dinesh Vijan’s Raabta, which will release next year.
“Yes, I shot for the song. It took me a day to wrap it up. It’s basically called an ‘item number’ (smiles). But someone like me, who is a trained classical dancer, finds it strange that people call it an ‘item’ song. As far as I am concerned, dance is just another form of expression,” says the actor.
Deepika admits that she has done the special song for Dinesh and Homi Adajania (film-maker). “I decided to do this track because, after all, they are the ones who gave me Cocktail (2012), which was an important film for me. A lot of people call it the turning point of my career. Plus, relationships and friendships are important for me. So, I’ll do anything for them (smiles),” she Deepika.
‘Item girls’ on the big screen!
Parineeti Chopra: The actor, who is making news for her new svelte avatar, has danced with Varun Dhawan in the song ‘Jaaneman aah’ from Dishoom. “I was excited about it. I wanted to show people this side of me (laughs),” says Parineeti about her first-ever special dance number.
Karisma Kapoor: She had starred opposite Salman Khan in Judwaa (1997). Now, as Varun readies to step into Salman’s shoes for the sequel to the movie, rumours claim that Karisma might do an ‘item number’ in the film, which will be directed by Varun’s father, David Dhawan. He directed the 1997 film as well.
Sunny Leone: The actor, who has done a few special songs in the past, has shot for a new track (reportedly a remix of the 1980 chartbuster ‘Laila o Laila’ from Qurbaani) along with Shah Rukh Khan for his next film. “It was a dream come true. We all want to work with him, and it actually happened,” she says.
Priyanka Chopra: She has done a few special numbers in Hindi films. It is believed that before taking off for the US recently, Priyanka shot for a special number for her maiden Marathi production, Ventilator. The film is apparently being directed by Rajesh Mapuskar of Ferrari Ki Sawaari (2012) fame.
