2 weeks Ago By Kusumika Das
Masaba Gupta stole the show with the dance number Khumaari in Kesari Chapter 2: The Untold Story of Jallianwala Bagh. The track plays as a backdrop to an important scene—a tense exchange between Amit Sial’s character and retired lawyer Neville McKinley (played by R Madhavan), who is being coaxed to return to court and take on a case involving his courtroom rival, C Sankaran Nair (portrayed by Akshay Kumar). In a chat with a news portal, Masaba opened up about how the opportunity came her way, how she prepared for it, and whether audiences can expect to see her in more dance numbers in the future.
Read on! Masaba Gupta on Khumaari When asked if she was ever concerned that Khumaari might turn into an item song, Masaba told SCREEN, "No, I was not concerned that it would be an item song. One, because I had heard about the script. Karan took me through the gist of the storyline and I knew that it was an interesting, impactful, courtroom drama.
So the base was set as something not frivolous already, right? Secondly, anything that you do which has a period nuance attached to it, automatically in my head, is elevated from being an item song." ALSO READ: Kesari Chapter 2 Director Reveals Reason Behind Casting Ananya Panday: Was Moved By Her Sensitive Acting She added, "Having said that, I don’t have an issue with item songs, but the item song has to stand for something. I was very impressed with Samantha Ruth Prabhu’s Oo Antava (Pushpa: The Rise), and I’ve always wanted to do something like that.
In fact, when I saw that song, I manifested this number in my head because I wanted to do what Samantha did and I wanted the impact to be similar. I thought the song had such a strong message that it really surpassed being just another item song. If an item song is done tastefully, there’s nothing wrong in being a part of it.
" She also spoke about whether she thinks item songs objectify women and said, "I’ve always been entertained by certain item numbers and I’ve been not so entertained by certain item numbers. When I think of a Pinga, which was with Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone in Bajirao Mastani, I think of that as the most beautiful form of a number that anybody in the country can do. When I think of Dola Re Dola (Devdas), I think of the same thing.
" She added that some high-energy performances, even if more commercial in nature, can still be enjoyable and memorable. "Having said that, I was thoroughly entertained with Katrina Kaif in Chikni Chameli as well, but in today’s day and age, in today’s climate, maybe we have to be a little bit more careful of what we’re really trying to say. But people forget that the arts have a certain entertainment value to them and one should keep that filter in mind whenever they are judging something in that manner.
Objectifying women is not something I would ever stand for, but I do think that it’s something that one has to be extremely careful about. When I heard Khumaari, I thought it was so beautiful. It’s about lost love and it’s about longing and it’s not really about anything beyond that.
So it’s a performance, it’s hardly a dance number in that sense," said Masaba. Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from Bollywood, Entertainment News and around the world..
