'DID L'il Masters': Helen asks people to not use word 'item' for song, terms it derogatory
Helen, who recently visited the reality show DID L'il Masters Season 5, opened up about how 'derogatory' is the word 'item' that people use to describe a song.
- Entertainment News
- 2 min read
Helen Ann Richardson Khan alias Helen is an Indian actor and dancer who appeared in over 700 films, making her a prolific performer in Hindi cinema. The actor is known for her supporting character roles and guest appearances in a career spanning around 70 years. Often cited as one of the most popular nautch dancers of her time, Helen, who recently visited the reality show DID L'il Masters Season 5, opened up about how 'derogatory' is the word 'item' that people use to describe a song.
DID L'il Masters is judged by Bollywood actors Sonali Bendre, Mouni Roy and choreographer Remo D'Souza. The show is hosted by Jay Bhanushali and airs on Zee TV.
Helen asks everyone to not use the word 'item' to term a song
As the performances by the talented youngsters impressed the judges, Helen grabbed everybody's attention with a poignant statement on 'item' numbers. When host Jay Bhanushali asked the veteran actor about her views on 'item numbers', she said that giving solo dances such a term is derogatory and doesn’t give it the credit it deserves. The statement came in support of the female actors who perform solo numbers.
Helen went on to say, "During our time, we used to make a lot of mythological stories and we used to incorporate dance sequences in between a few scenes. Because of that, they were termed ‘Solo Dances.’ As we moved towards modern forms of dance with nightclub backdrops, the term changed." "I feel calling any song or actress an item number or item girl is very unaesthetic. It doesn’t sound good. Nobody is an item here, and everyone is a working professional. I really feel we should not use the word ‘Item’ to refer to an actress or to any song," she further added.
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More on Helen
Helen was introduced to Bollywood at a very early stage after which she started performing as a group dancer in the films Shabistan (1951) and Awaara (1951). She also featured as a solo dancer in films such as Alif Laila (1954) and Hoor-e-Arab (1955). Helen got her major break in 1958, aged 19 when she performed the song Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu in Shakti Samanta's film, Howrah Bridge