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The next item...
SREEDHAR PILLAI
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Item numbers have made their presence felt in the South too. Shriya Saran is the latest to join the likes of Aiswarya and Kareena who sizzled on the screen with their dance numbers.
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Sizzling Shriya: Shriya is doing an item number with Vadivel in ‘Indiralokathil Na Azhagappan.’
Last week, the hot and happening heroine of Tamil cinema Shriya Saran created a tremor in Kollywood when she agreed to do an item number with comedian-turned-hero Vadivel in ‘Indiralokathil Na Azhagappan’! ‘Item number’ in o
ur films means dancing to a sizzling song by a top female star, who is not part of the film; she usually dances with the hero and provides entertainment to viewers.
The producer of ‘Indiralokathil Na Azhagappan,’ ‘Seventh Channel’ Manickam Narayanan, and the director Thambi Ramaiah have pulled off a coup by roping in the reigning queen of Tamil cinema Shriya to do a scene and the song with Vadivel in this big budget mythological comedy. Shriya flew down from Mumbai to Madurai, and then travelled by road to a picturesque village Mukkudal, near the famous Courtallam falls, and spent five days there for the shoot.
Integral part
The item number is always an integral part of Bollywood. Earlier, it was the forte of the queens of oomph, Helen and Aruna Irani. Who can forget the ‘Piya tu ab to aaja’ number of Helen in ‘Caravan’ (1971)? Then, we had Mallika Sherawat, Malaika Arora-Khan, Yana Gupta, Raakhi Saawant and Koena Mitra, who gyrated to hot numbers. Today, almost every top actor is doing it. Recently, Aishwarya Rai did the famous ‘Kajrare…’ in ‘Bunty aur Bubbly,’ Karishma Kapoor in ‘Don’ (‘Yeh mera dil’) and, down South, Nayanthara danced with Rajnikanth (‘Balle lekka’) in ‘Sivaji.’
And the audience do not look down on top heroines doing item numbers. In fact, it enhances their market value, and expectations among fans. Shriya has been paid a whopping amount to do the item number in ‘Indiralokathil Na Azhagappan.’
On location for the shooting of ‘Indiralokathil Na Azhagappan,’ Shriya said: “I’m really excited about doing this folk song in the film, wearing a typical sari, which you find women in rural Tamil Nadu wearing. What’s wrong in doing this number with Vadivel, who, I think, is a fantastic comedian in the Jim Carrey mould? During the shoot of ‘Sivaji,’ Shankar gave me a DVD of his ‘Imsai Arasan 23am Pulikesi,’ which was great fun. After watching the film, I became a fan of Vadivel.”
Shriya plays a ghost buster in the film. It is more of a comedy sequence followed by a song written by Pulamai Pithan. It is tuned by Sabesh Murali and sung by ‘Mirchi’ Suchitra and Vadivel. The song goes like this: ‘Malikka Sherawataa, Marilyn Monroevaa, Cleopatravaa, athu Clinton Magalaa.’
Says Shriya: “It is not a titillating song, but a funny, cute ‘pei’ (ghost) song, which will be one of the highlights of the film. My costumes and look for the song were art director Thotta Tharani’s idea. Since I’m a good classical dancer who has won many awards, I enjoyed doing this folk dance.”
It is not the first time Shriya is doing an item number; in the recent Telugu super hit ‘Thulasi,’ she has done a hot number with Venkatesh. Anyway the Shriya song has made ‘Indiralokathil Na Azhagappan,’ one of the hottest films in the Kollywood trade circles.
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Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
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