When it comes to women empowerment, filmmaker and host, Karan Johar is quite vocal and is a supporter of the #MeToo movement as well. In a recent interview with film critic, Anupama Chopra, Karan Johar pledged to never have an item song in his movies.
The filmmaker went on to say that item songs are specifically meant to objectify women and is just a means to promote the film and entice the male audience. “I have gone on record and apologized that I have had item songs in my feature films and I don’t think I would do it again in a Dharma Productions film. I have no problem with a girl dancing; that’s not an item number. An item song is when she is objectified and when there are men lusting for her like in ‘Chikni Chameli’,” he said.
In response to this, actress Katrina Kaif, who has a number of items songs to her credit told DNA India that she feels “very differently on the matter.”
According to Katrina, she feels it’s all down to the individual who is performing the song. “I don’t think Madonna feels objectified. I don’t think Beyoncé who performs in a swimsuit on stage is feeling objectified. It’s all about how you feel while you are performing that song.”
She added, “I can tell you, I never felt objectified in ‘Chikni Chameli’. I enjoyed that song. I enjoyed the dance, I enjoyed what I was doing. I didn’t even for a moment felt objectified or brought any kind of wrong eyes on me. There are many times when people ask me for songs and there’s no context to it. I won’t do it, no matter how much I feel about dance. We don’t need to characterize it that every song that a woman is celebrating herself and performing, that’s not objectifying women. It all depends on the angle and lens it’s being seen.”
