Nia Sharma defends her ‘item number’ Phoonk Le

Nia Sharma is an Indian actress and model. Nia Sharma made her television debut in 2010 with the show Kaali – Ek Agnipariksha and later appeared in the host Behenein both in supporting roles.

Actor Nia Sharma recently appeared in an ‘item song’ Phoonk Le, which was tagged as the exploitation of women by many critics of Bollywood.

In the song video Phoonk Le, she said she danced with “a hundred men” in “skimpy outfits.” Nia dances among dozens of intoxicated guys of all ages outside a booze shop in the video’s dance.

Nia in a recent interview stated that it would be hypocritical of her to claim that songs like this objectify women, especially after constantly referring to Phoonk Le as an “item song.” She was asked if she thought the phrase itself was derogatory.

She said, “It is controversial. It is contrasting for me to be doing something like that and then talking about the objectification of women in songs. But, if you look at it in another way, this is an entertainment industry. This is what we churn out. If item songs were so bad, then Chaiyya Chaiyya wouldn’t have been made, Munni Badnaam Hui wouldn’t have been made, Sheila Ki Jawani wouldn’t have been made… I just looked at the discipline and effort behind these songs and not women being objectified.”

She further added, “I know the kind of dance I have done around men, and I was very skeptical of doing it with 100 men in a song. I shot all night with them, but not for a single second was there any bad behavior. They were so helpful, they were so respectful. After every cut, they would turn around because my clothes were so skimpy. Nobody was staring at me or looking at me.”