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Why item numbers?

On Sunday's episode of "Satyameva Jayate", the show's host, superstar Aamir Khan had brought in three popular actresses of Hindi cinema to comment on the day's topic of harassment of women. All the actresses were very vocal about their strong dislike for unwanted male attention. They were unanimous in their disapproval of lewd behaviour and antics that are apparently inspired by the hero's similar antics on screen.

So far so good. After all they totally decried the emulation of eve-teasing behaviour that is often depicted in popular Bollywood cinema. As modern, rational thinking women of today, such denunciation was expected from them.

But the question remains of why they themselves agree to do raunchy, explicit item numbers on screen, which cause more rampant damage because they show the female body packaged as a sexual toy? Deepika's recent portrayal of a bar dancer in "Happy New Year" blatantly cashes in on her raunchy dance numbers showing off her her toned body. Kangana has acted the bimbette in the forgettable "Rascals", and Parineeti is just a step away from doing an item number herself.

Just showing the heroine as a smoking, drinking, over-sexed modern young woman does not do justice to the millions of women who face sexual harassment day in and day out. Actresses should realize that they have a bigger responsibility towards society. They can and should put their foot down and refuse to portray the woman as a sexual object. After all, they are held as role-models by countless women in the country which hero-worships Bollywood stars.
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