Shabana Azmi does not think twice before speaking her mind and she once expressed her disappointment over the lewd lyrics for Salman Khan & Kareena Kapoor Khan’s Dabangg 2 song ‘Fevicol Se.’
Azmi found the lyrics of the song absurd and questionable. She even mentioned that it is more problematic if a child is dancing to it.
During a discussion panel in 2018, the ‘Arth’ actor raised an objection to the Dabangg song. She even raised her concern over the item song culture in Hindi Cinema and voiced her opinions. Shabana Azmi though made it clear that she has no issues with women celebrating their bodies in an appropriate manner. But she suggested where one should draw the line and her argument sounded absolutely appropriate. Scroll down to read why the actor disagreed with the iconic ‘Fevicol Se’ song.
Voicing her opinion at the FICCI Frames panel in the year 2018, Shabana Azmi said, “I have strong views on item numbers because they are not part of the narrative, and they’ve been put in a film for the only purpose of titillation and nothing else. She even mentioned that while she does not have any issue with sensuality, it’s the objectification she disapproves of.
“When a girl or a leading lady says ‘It’s alright, I want to celebrate my sensuality’, I have no problem with that. I think that’s wonderful. But under the pretence of ‘celebrating your sensuality’, what you are actually doing is surrendering to the male gaze and objectifying yourselves because the business of cinema is of images” said the ‘Masoom’ actress in the same discussion. She then pointed out the problematic lyrics for Salman Khan & Kareena Kapoor’s Dabangg 2 song ‘Fevicol Se.’ Citing the line ‘Main toh tandoori murgi hun yaar, gatka le saiyaan alcohol se’, Shabana Azmi said, “Please be informed, when you say ‘main tandoori murgi hu, gatka lo mujhe alcohol kay saath’ and a four-year-old girl is dancing on it, you are leading to the s*xualisation of children and the parents who are enjoying it, people who are encouraging her are just as responsible.”
In the same conversation, the actress cited an example from Zoya Akhtar’s film Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and referred to Katrina Kaif’s bikini scene. Azmi said, “In the film, Katrina Kaif comes out of the water in a bikini, the camera doesn’t go close to her, doesn’t linger on her bosom or the droplets falling. The camera in mid (frame) sees her coming out of the water, picks up her bathrobe, wears it and you immediately accept that she is an instructor who is coming and doing her job.” She further explained how the scene could be served for the male gaze if shot in some other way. “The very same shot, if the director had decided to go over, it would be objectification. So it’s the intention. There’s a difference between sensuality and objectification”, she concluded.
Item numbers in films have always been a subject of discussion. What do you feel about Shabana Azmi’s opinion and the Fevicol song?