‘Items’ is a colloquial way of referring to an item number or an item girl. It is also used as a disrespectful term of address towards physically attractive women in everyday context.

An item number is a music and dance spectacle that appears in ninety percent of commercial Indian films. It showcases beautiful women (the item girl) in revealing clothes, dancing provocatively to a sexually charged, high tempo song in the company of over powering men. It is interesting to note that the item number includes all male characters from the film, but never includes any female character from the rest of the film. Also, the item girl has no connection to the rest of the film and never re-appears in it. She is used as a blatant tool to increase the marketability of the film.

My work plays with these patriarchal and one-dimensional stereotypes of women that has been created and encouraged by popular Indian media and people. In my work, we see real women, from our everyday lives, wearing iconic costumes worn by various item girls. However, the mise en scène works towards portraying them as strong, independent individuals, who are not conforming to the bias imposed upon them. It was amazing to work with each of these women, who took back the stereotypes and made them their own.