From Body to Product:
Gender and Commodification in
Bollywood Item Song
Ismail Sarkar,
State Aided College Teacher-I,
Department of English,
Murshidabad Adarsha Mahavidyalaya,
West Bengal, India.
Abstract: Who does not love Bollywood songs? We all
appreciate Bollywood songs from the bottom of our hearts because the Bollywood
song gives us much entertainment and soothes our heart and charms our mind. They
have long been a spectacle of glamour .They with their charming rhythm allure
our visuals. They are designed to captivate audiences. We see the use of bold
choreography, catchy lyrics, and larger-than-life performances in the Bollywood
songs. Among these, “Fevicol Se” from the movie Dabangg 2 gives us an exact
feel of a panorama of entertainment by providing an infectious beat and on the
other hand the song portrays the female body in an unusual way that demands
critical attention. On the surface level the song was meant to entertain; yet,
a closer look reveals a more troubling layer where the female body is
commodified and objectified through several metaphors like ‘tandoori chicken’,
‘Fevicol’, and ‘hookah bars’,. My articles aim at how the song reduces the
woman to a consumable object and further
aims to explore how commodification of
women’s bodies is very common in popular cinema and what it reveals about the
persistent male gaze in Bollywood.
Keywords: Bollywood
songs, Objectification and commodification, female body, Make gaze
Introduction: In Indian Cinema either Bengali, south Indian or In
Hindi cinema we see two types of song: one is romantic song which fits the
theme ( as in Mughal E Azam’s song Piyar kiya to darna kiya); and the other is
items songs which is asserted through high-energy music, provocative dance, and
glamorous visuals the purpose of the later is to attract mass audiences. We
have numberless artist to perform such types of items songs and those artist
are Malaika Arora, Katrina Kaif, Kareena Kapoor who have defined this genre,
becoming icons of desire and allure. The
most disturbing part of these items songs are that these songs often position
women as objects to be looked at, rather than agents with agency. As Laura
Mulvey discusses in her seminal essay, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative
Cinema”, the male gaze in cinema often positions women as objects to be
looked at, emphasizing their physicality over agency (Mulvey 6–18). The song
under scrutiny ‘Fevicol Se’ fits squarely within this tradition, but it is
particularly striking in how it uses metaphors of consumption and adhesion to
portray the female body. This song aligns with her notion of the male gaze,
where cinema constructs women primarily as visual objects for male pleasure. It
is not alone Laura Mulveys but scholars across India have long critiqued such
representations. Indian scholars such as Shoma A. Chatterji and Mouparna Roy
have highlighted how mainstream Indian cinema similarly objectifies women,
portraying them through patriarchal perspectives that align with Mulvey’s theory
(Chatterji; Roy 94–101).
It is imperative
also to mention the name of Dr. Jyotirmay Deb who observes that Indian cinema
frequently uses camera angles and narrative structures to present women as
sexualized objects for male viewers, reinforcing patriarchal norms (Deb 1–6).
Nina Menkes, an international filmmaker and critic, also emphasizes how
mainstream cinema’s visual language objectifies women, showing that this
phenomenon is not restricted to Bollywood (Menkes). Together, these
perspectives show that item songs like Fevicol Se participate in a global
cinematic trend where women are framed as objects of desire and my article
explores how Fevicol Se exemplifies the commodification of women’s bodies in
Bollywood, drawing on feminist theory to examine the subtle dynamics of
objectification and spectacle.
Women as Food and
Product:
To establish this fact that the women are rendered as
good and product I need to analyse the lyric in great detail. For this here
want to insert to exact Hindi lyric with translation as per as available in on
line source.
Main toh tandoori ... haai
Main toh tandoori murgi hoon yaar
Gatkale saiyan alcohol se ... oh yeah
Mere photo ko seene se yaar
Chipka le saiyan fevicol se
I'm tandoori ... hey
I'm tandoori chicken, my friend
Swallow me with alcohol ... oh yeah
Take my photo in your arms
And stick it with glue, my love
Log kehte hai mujhe
Main toh hoon namkeen butter, maska maska
Log kehte hai mujhe Main
toh hoon namkeen butter
Kaat doongi main dil ko
Meri jawani hai cutter People
call me
As savoury butter, smooth smooth
People call me
As savoury butter
I'll cut your heart
My youthfulness is like a cutter.(Sharma et al.
filmyuotes.com)
Some important information about song is to be given here
are:
Song Title: Fevicol Se
Movie: Dabangg 2
Singers: Mamta Sharma & Wajid Ali
Lyrics: Sameer Anjaan
Music: Sajid–Wajid
Featured: Kareena Kapoor Khan & Salman Khan
Choreography: Farah Khan
Surprisingly the full song uses food and product
metaphors (Tandoori chicken, alcohol, Fevicol, hookah bar) to depict desire,
temptation, and attachment and in cinema showing nudity is considered a bold
move.
The lyrics of Fevicol Se offer a rich ground for feminist
critique. The line “Main toh tandoori murgi hoon yaar” (I am tandoori chicken,
darling) frames the female performer as an edible commodity. The reference to
alcohol and Fevicol furthers the metaphor, implying male pleasure and
attachment, while subtly erasing female agency. Shoma A. Chatterji notes that
Indian films often depict women as passive objects, reinforcing societal
expectations about femininity and sexuality (Chatterji).
Similarly, Mouparna Roy argues that even films marketed
as empowering frequently present women through a male perspective, reducing
them to visual spectacle (Roy 94–101). The playful, humorous tone of the song
masks the underlying commodification, making the female body consumable and
entertaining for the audience. Rajesh Kumar, in his work on the emerging female
gaze, suggests that these traditional portrayals are being challenged by
contemporary filmmakers, yet songs like Fevicol Se remain anchored in the male
gaze (Kumar).
How the Male Gaze
and Spectacle fit into song:
The visual elements reinforce the lyrics’
objectification. Camera angles, lighting, and choreography emphasize Kareena
Kapoor’s body, focusing on curves and movements rather than personality or
narrative depth. According to Laura Mulvey, this is a key aspect of the male
gaze, where women are constructed as visual objects for male pleasure (Mulvey
6–18). Dr. Jyotirmay Deb notes that such cinematic techniques in Indian films
often mirror patriarchal societal structures, where women are expected to be
visually alluring yet passive (Deb 1–6). Nina Menkes echoes this observation,
showing through her analysis of global cinema that the objectification of women
is a recurring pattern across cultures (Menkes).
By highlighting the spectacle, the song normalizes the
viewing of women as objects rather than agents, reinforcing gender hierarchies
(Chatterji; Roy 94–101).
Cultural and Social
Implications
Beyond cinema, item songs like Fevicol Se influence
cultural perceptions of women. By framing female bodies as consumable products,
they implicitly teach that a woman’s value lies in her appearance and
desirability. Aparna Sen notes that even as Bollywood has begun experimenting
with female-centered narratives, traditional item songs continue to reinforce
objectification (Sen). Chatterji and Roy similarly emphasize that such
portrayals, while entertaining, perpetuate patriarchal norms and influence
audience expectations (Chatterji; Roy 94–101).
While contemporary films sometimes offer alternative
perspectives through the female gaze, the persistence of objectifying item
numbers illustrates the deep-rooted nature of the male gaze in popular culture
(Kumar).
Conclusion
Fevicol Se exemplifies a recurring pattern in Bollywood:
women’s bodies are stylized, commodified, and marketed for visual consumption.
Through metaphors of food, glue, and products, the song reduces the female
performer to an object of desire, amusing and palatable for the audience. By
drawing on the insights of Mulvey, Chatterji, Roy, Deb, Menkes, Kumar, and Sen,
it becomes clear that item songs like this are not just entertainment—they are
cultural texts that reflect and reinforce the patriarchal gaze. While rhythm,
humor, and spectacle make the song appealing, it also reminds viewers of how
deeply normalized the objectification of women remains in cinema.
Works Cited
Chatterji, Shoma A. Subject Cinema, Object
Women: A Study of the Portrayal of Women in Indian Cinema. Parumita
Publications, 2000.
Deb, Jyotirmay. "Male Gaze and Indian
Cinema." International Journal of Humanities, Social Sciences and
Education, vol. 8, no. 3, 2023, pp. 1–6.
Kumar, Rajesh. "The Female Gaze: The
Changing Portrayal of Women in Bollywood Cinema." LaSalle College of the
Arts, 2018.
Menkes, Nina. Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power.
2022.
Mulvey, Laura. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative
Cinema.” Screen, vol. 16, no. 3, Autumn 1975, pp. 6–18. Oxford University
Press, doi:10.1093/screen/16.3.6.
Roy, Mouparna. "Male Gaze in Indian
Cinema: The Presentation of Women in Mainstream Cinema." International
Journal of Humanities and Education Development, vol. 3, no. 5, 2021, pp.
94–101.
Sen, Aparna. "The Politics of (Fe)male
Gaze in Hindi Cinema." Alliance University, 2018
Sharma, Mamta, et al. “Fevicol Se.” Dabangg
2, directed by Arbaaz Khan, T-Series, 2012.
https://www.filmyquotes.com/songs/382?utm_source=chatgpt.com