Lyrical Cacophony: Sexuality and Objectification in Bollywood’s ‘Item Numbers’
While the discourse around the ‘item songs’ in Bollywood films usually revolves around the sexually explicit videos, Ankur Choudhary argues that the bigger issue to be tackled is the lyrical content that leans towards the objectification of women.
Poetry by John Copley Alter: ‘In the proximity / of other gods—other sutras— / we muttered our creed—you // pecking / away at your manual typewriter— / carbon copies of personal letters / home—to the diaspora—we // noodling on the keyboard of happiness’