The tag ‘item number’ degrades the essence of a song: Omung

Filmmaker Omung Kumar’s next release, Bhoomi, is making the right noise, and for a reason. Besides being actor Sanjay Dutt’s comeback movie, it also has an item song titled, Trippy Trippy, featuring actor, Sunny Leone. However, Kumar isn’t a big fan of the term ‘ item number’ and says that the ‘tag’ destroys the meaning and the purpose of the song. Hence, he insists that the song shouldn’t be classified as an ‘item number’.

“You want to call it an item number, it’s fine, but I don’t like this tag. The song (in the film) is about the female pushing the other guy away. It is an integral part of the plot and the situation in the film changes after Trippy Trippy. It’s not just another song; it has a meaning in the film,” says Kumar.

The filmmaker argues that the song isn’t insensitive towards women, and doesn’t commodify them either. He feels that tagging dance numbers as item numbers degrades the purpose of the song. “People assume certain things when you say, ‘item number’. And I have a problem with that,” he says.

Omung’s upcoming film Bhoomi is a revenge drama, where a father seeks to avenge the rape of his daughter, and the song, Omung argues, helps in establishing the sensitivity. “It is a very sensitive film. There were five songs in the film, which depict all kinds of situations and emotions. Trippy Trippy is perhaps the most important song because it also establishes the identity of the villain. The song is set in Agra and the backdrop shows that too,” he explains.

People assume certain things when you say, ‘item number’. And I have a problem with that OMUNG KUMAR, FILMMAKER