Bollywood ‘item songs’ have always received mixed reactions from the audience. While some artistes own up to their work, Shreya Ghoshal has a different perspective on it. The singer recently admitted that she feels embarrassed by the ‘raunchy’ dance number ‘Chikni Chameli’ (‘Agneepath’, 2012), featuring Katrina Kaif. In an interview, she expressed her thoughts on not wanting to become a part of that kind of history of the music industry.
When asked about how she feels about singing such songs, Shreya said, “I have a handful of songs which could be borderline raunchy, like ‘Chikni Chameli’. There is very fine line between being sexual and sexy or being out there just making yourself objectified. Why I am a little conscious about this now over time is because I see young little girls singing this song.”
“They don’t know what it means. It’s a fun song and they dance to it. They come and say, ‘I love your music. Can I sing this in front of you?’ And then, I feel very embarrassed. A little girl who is hardly five to six years old is singing this and it doesn’t suit or sound good. I don’t want that, so I have been conscious about that,” she added.
The singer emphasised that it isn’t wrong for women to feel sexy, but the song lyrics written mostly by males should have been better. “It isn’t wrong to happily talk about how sexy I am. But don’t write it in such a way. Maybe, if a woman was writing it, she would have written it in a gracious manner. It’s just a matter of perspective. In our society, especially in India, it is very important to set some goals or benchmarks, because you know what is going on around us,” she said.
“Films and music have a very huge impact on people; it’s a big part of our lives. Any big blockbuster film or song becomes a part of history and I don’t want to become a part of that kind of history,” Shreya concluded.