From Mujras to Item Songs: Tracing the Journey of Courtesan Songs in Popular Hindi movies and inclusion in Popular Culture.

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1 From Mujras to Item Songs: Tracing the Journey of Courtesan Songs in Popular Hindi movies and inclusion in Popular Culture. Cheena Chawla Assistant Professor( Department of English) Patel Memorial National College Rajpura, Punjab. Abstract: The present paper attempts to analyze the incorporation of courtesan songs as mujras in Popular Hindi movies and their inclusion in Popular culture. These mujras held a prominent position in Bollywood and contributed a great deal to the success of the movies they were a part of. Due to globalization and changing trends and consumer demands, the mujras in Indian cinema slowly and gradually transformed and paved way for the bolder and more provocative item numbers and the courtesan stood reincarnated as the item girl. Research Paper: Courtesan songs originated in temples through devadasis and gradually reached Kothas and concert halls. With the degeneration of courtesan tradition, their private performances and private salons dwindled considerably. But their art was not completely lost. With the proliferation of Bollywood, their music started incorporating itself into popular Hindi movies, though in a somewhat changed manner, which catered to the interest of the masses i.e. it became part of the popular culture. Popular culture has been the subject of a heated critical debate. The proponents of elitist culture, critics such as Max Horkheimer and T. W. Adorno, Dwight Macdonald are of the view that "Masscult... doesn't even have the possibility of being good," because it "offers its customers neither an emotional catharsis nor an aesthetic experience" (Macdonald 4). Whereas the proponents of popular culture, critics such as Richard Slotkin, Refereed (Peer Reviewed) Journal 416

2 Leslie Fiedler argue that culture does not merely include elite and high works of art, instead culture is ordinary (Williams 92) as Raymond Williams points out. The popular Hindi film is without doubt an incredibly remarkable means of mass entertainment. Popular film and popular music are undeniably connected in Indian cinema. The inclusion of songs in the film is the most consistent charecteristic of popular Hindi movies. Film songs have been the unchallenged popular music of India. They have a quasi-classical status. It is not an original genre, rather borrows from classical, semi-classical and folk repertory only but altered for use in film by changing instrumentation and sometimes rhythm. Whatever be the case, the Indian masses identify with film songs instead of classical music. And the centrality of the mujra - the dance of the courtesan in Bollywood cannot be questioned looking at the countless number of such songs in the Popular Hindi movie as Veena Talwar Oldenburg points out in Lifestyle as Resistance : The Case of the Courtesans of Luckhnow, their enduring influence on the Hindi film is all too patent (Oldenburg263). Most Hindi films, called masala movies, are popular because of the songs and dances in them and the very notion of the music and dance sequences is reflective of the style of entertainment at the kothas. And mujra- the courtesan song and dance form- held its sway over Bollywood for many decades of twentieth century through movies like Pakeezah(1972) and Umrao Jaan (1981) and the iconic mujras in these movies. Inhin logon ne le liya dupatta mera. Hamri na maano saiyyan, Hamri na maano sipahiya se pucchho, Jisne bajariya mein chheena dupatta mera. Inhin logon ne le liya dupatta mera(pakeezah 1972). (These people have taken away my dupatta. If you don t believe me, my dear, You can ask this police constable, Refereed (Peer Reviewed) Journal 417

3 who snatched my dupatta in the market). (Translation mine.) Pakeezah is the most perfect example of the representation of courtesans in Popular Indian movies. The above mujra, as Gayatri Gopinath observes: although light-hearted with a catchy tune and flirty lyrics, directly refers to the courtesan's capitulation and critique of the patriarchal discourses on feminine purity and propriety. She suggestively dances in front of her customers in the public space of the brothel ; she refers to the loss of sexual and moral purity she suffers as a result of patriarchal social mores as she sings these lines. The fetishistic gaze on the courtesan's feet references her sexual labur as well as her inner purity(gopinath86). In Umrao Jaan, the courtesan is the poet, dancer and the temptress rolled into one as seen in the mujra: Dil chiz kya hai aap meri jaan lijiye, Bas ek baar mera kaha maan lijiye. Dil chiz kya hai aap mri jaan lijiye, Bas ek baar mera kaha maan lijiye(umrao Jaan 1981). (My heart is an insignificant thing to ask for, I can offer my life to you but it is my request, please agree to my pleadings.)(translation mine). Madhumalati Adhikari observes: The image of total surrender is highlighted by her provoking and graceful eyes, hands and body movements. Dressed in a traditional costume, adorned from head to foot with jewellery designed from Mughal paintings, encircled by animate and inanimate artifacts, she is a picture to be desired for. The exposed spectacle redefines our cultural history and Refereed (Peer Reviewed) Journal 418

4 is a discourse on our custom (Adhikari11). Apart from these ever popular mujras from these classic movies based on courtesans, there are a number of other songs based on the courtesans which amply point to their central place in the song and dance repertoire of popular Hindi film from the mid of the twentieth century to the last decades of the same century. Majority of these mujras, apart from demonstrating the singing and dancing prowess of the courtesan, depict the eternal wait of a courtesan for true love: Bahot der se dar pe aankhen lagee thi, Hazoor aate aate bahot der kar di. Massehah mere beemar gum ki, Dawaa laate late bahot der kar di(tavayaf 1985). (I waited for you but you took so long to come. O my saviour! You could have cured me of my grief, but you took so long to come.(translation mine). or the mujra as a means of enticing the male audience: Salaam-e-ishq meri jaan zaraa kubool kar lo, Tum hum se pyaar karne ki zaraa si bhool kar lo. Mera dil bechein hai, Mera dil bechein hai humsafar ke liye (Muqaddar ka Sikandar1978). (Salute to love! I offer you my life. I plead you to commit the mistake of falling in love with me. My heart is so restless for a companion.)(translation mine). Refereed (Peer Reviewed) Journal 419

5 or depicting the pretence and hypocritical nature of society: Shareefon ka zamaane mein aji haal yeh dekha, Sharaafat chod di maine. Mohabbat karne waalon ka yahaan anjam woh dekha, Mohabbat chod di maine(sharafat 1970) (When I saw the way the righteous conduct themselves in this world, I gave up righteousness. When I saw the way lovers are treated in this world, I gave up love). (Translation mine). But in all the cases, the courtesans has been represented and stereotyped in a particular way. She is represented as beautiful, elegant and graceful yet the sordid reality underneath that she is a woman who is excluded from respectable society is clearly evident. Stuart Hall observes: It is by our use of things, and what we say, think and feel about them-how we represent them- that we give them a meaning. We give them meanings by how we represent them the words we use about them, the stories we tell about them, the images of them we produce, the emotions we associate with them, the ways we classify and conceptualize them, the values we place on them...the politics of representation examines not only how representation produces meaning but also how the knowledge which a particular discourse produces connects with power, regulates conduct, makes up or constructs identities and subjectivities, and defines the way certain things are represented, thought about, practised and studied(hall5-6). Thus these courtesans films and mujras amply point towards the significant status of courtesan culture in Popular Hindi movies and also their ambiguous status in society. Without their contribution, Bollywood cannot be complete. But Bollywood keeps on changing and transforming itself depending on the needs and demands of its national and global audience. And Refereed (Peer Reviewed) Journal 420

6 the shifting of focus from the mujras to item numbers can be attributed to this transformation. If a mujra is one of the oldest ways to use the courtesan s beauty to tempt the audience, an item number is a much bolder version of the mujra in terms of the lyrics, presentation and attire of the performer. Songs like saat samandar par main tere (Vishwatma1992) and tu cheez badi hai mast-mast (Mohra1994) can be seen as the very first instances of item songs in Bollywood which presented the heroine in a Westernised and bold avtar. Slowly and gradually, these songs also paved the way for such sequences like babuji zara dheere chalo, beedi jalai ley, munni badnaam, sheila ki jawaani, chikni chameli : Babuji zaraa dheere chalo, Bijli khari yahaan bijli khari. Nainon mein chingaariyaan, Gora badan sholon ki lari(dum2003). (Walk slowly! O refined gentleman, Lightening itself is standing in your way. My eyes are filled with sparkle, And my fair- complexioned body is a bed of flames).(translation mine). and Beedi jalayee le Jigar se piya. Jigar ma badi aag hai(omkara 2006). Light up a cigarette with my heart, My heart is full of fire and passion.(translation mine.) And Refereed (Peer Reviewed) Journal 421

7 Munni badnaam hui darling tere liye. Munni badnaam hui darling tere liye. Shilpa sa figure, Bebo si ada, Hai mere jhatke mein filmi mazaa(dabang 2010). (O lover, Munni has gained notoriety for you. My curves are like that of Shilpa Shetty s, And my style is at par with Kareena kapoor. mine). Hence my whole being is filled with great joy akin to Hindi movies). (Translation In all these songs, the heroine s body is presented in a very seductive manner, and as a desirable object to be gazed at by the audience. Baudrillard observes in Consumer Society:Myths and Structures: In the consumer package there is one object finer, more precious and more dazzling than any other...that object is the body. Its rediscovery, in a spirit of physical and sexual liberation; its omnipresence(specifically the omnipresence of female body) in advertising, fashion and mass culture... bears witness to the fact that the body has today become an object of salvation. It has literally taken over that moral and ideological function from the soul (Baudrillard 129). The item number has kept on evolving since the 1980s and has been fully exploited as a form and reached its peak of evolution in the present age. One also here sees the kotha and the item number setting coming together- in both the female performer is the center of attraction who tries to allure the audience(selective male audience in the first case but in the second case the audience is the common man) with her gestures, facial expressions, as well as with her body and in both there is the commodification of her body. But whereas the courtesan performing at her Refereed (Peer Reviewed) Journal 422

8 kotha had extensive training in arts, an item girl, scantily clad, merely dances to catchy tunes with bold provocative lyrics. Thus the item number setting can be seen as a sort of a very modernised kotha. Works Cited and Consulted: Adhikari, Madhumalati. Cultural Representation in text and Cinematic adaptation: Mirza Mohammed Hadi Ruswa s Umrao Jan Ada and Muzaffar Ali s Umrao Jaan. 10 July Baudrillard, Jean. Consumer Society: Myths and Structures. Trans. Chris Turner. London: Sage Publications, Print. Gopal, Sangita. Conjugations: Marriage and Form in New Bollywood. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, Web. Google Book Search. 12 July Gopinath, Gayatri. Impossible Desires: Queer Diasporas and South Asian Public Cultures.U.S.A. : Duke University Press, Web. Google Book Search. 12 July Hall, Stuart. Ed. Representations: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. London: Sage Publications, Print. Refereed (Peer Reviewed) Journal 423

9 Laughey Dan. Key themes in Media Theory. New York: McGraw- Hill, Print. Macdonald Dwight. Masscult and Midcult. Against the American Grain. New York: Random, Google Book Search. Web. 25 June Oldenburg, Veena Talwar. Lifestyle as Resistance: The Case of Courtesans of Lucknow, India. Feminist Studies16.2(1990): JSTOR. Web. 12 July Williams, Raymond. Culture is Ordinary. Resources of Hope: Culture, Democracy, Socialism. Ed. Robin Gable. London: Verso, Web July Refereed (Peer Reviewed) Journal 424

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