Amidst wedding rumours and dance reality shows, Malaika Arora recently got candid with journalist Anupama Chopra in an interview. Anupama prompted Malaika to spill the beans about her personal as well as professional life. Malaika has given numerous sizzling performances on suggestive Bollywood numbers and has done a helluva job as a dancer. She has always been proud of her work. However, the 45-year-old actress has a major issue with the terminology used for these songs and she doesn’t like the tag of ‘item girl’.
Source: YouTube
Malaika Arora has featured in several hit songs like Chaiyya Chaiyya, Munni Badnam Hui, Hoth Raseele and Anarkali Disco Chali among others. “I love dancing. I enjoy it a lot. I am not apologetic about it at all,” the 45-year-old actress said about her performances.
Anupama introduced Malaika as a ‘fascinating modern-day celebrity brand’ who was an iconic dancer, an in-demand reality show judge and the face of a retail brand, ‘The Label Life’. When Malaika was asked about being a part of many blockbuster songs, she said, “Whenever I did a song I did it on my own accord, I never did it under any duress. I was comfortable. If I felt like I was not OK with something, I’d voice my opinion.” She also said that if a camera angle was going down her cleavage, she would voice her discomfort, “I’d say, ‘no I don’t like that step’. If I felt like I was being objectified, I’d say it, and I’m not stupid.”
Malaika further revealed that she has a problem with people calling her dance numbers ‘item songs’, and said that she would want to turn around and ‘slap’ whoever refers to her as an ‘item’. “I’ve always had a problem with it being called item song. Imagine someone calling me, ‘yeh kya item hai’, I’d turn around and slap that person.”
Also Read: Malaika Arora Slams Trolls For Age-Shaming Her By Posting A Bikini Picture
Talking about the lyrics of some of these songs, Malaika admitted that she was aware of the ‘suggestive’ nature of the words, but said that most of them were ‘tongue-in-cheek’. “I’ve never felt that it crossed that line where it was downright vulgar, or downright offensive. According to me, it was always in a nice fun, tongue-in-cheek sort of space.”
She further said that she comes from ‘a different school of thought’ and believes that all of these songs should not be completely phased out. “If a woman feels that it is not a safe environment, then I don’t think we should have them (songs). I don’t want to ban all these songs. Our films have always been about this (song and dance) culture, why should one just change it overnight? Only do away with what is downright offensive. This is unique to Bollywood. Why phase it out because there’s a certain wave of thinking.”
When Anupama asked the actress if she was ever interested in being an actor, Malaika said, “No, it’s too demanding and time-consuming.” She said that if Chaiyya Chaiyya hadn’t happened to her, she’d either be a chef running a kitchen somewhere or a teacher.
Anupama also asked her if she was comfortable being called ‘sexy’, the actress said, “I have worn the sexy tag on my sleeve. I’d rather be known as sexy than pheeki. Who wants to have pheeki dal, I think everyone prefers a tadke vaali dal. I’ve never shied away from it or felt awkward about my body. I’ve always been comfortable in my skin.”
At the end of the interview, Anupama finally addressed the elephant in the room and asked Malaika about her impending church wedding with Arjun Kapoor. The actress blushed and didn’t give a clear answer, “This is all media made. The media is responsible for all of this. That’s all I’m going to say about it.” Without admitting anything, she further said, “I guess everyone wants to move on and find love and find companionship, and if you do, then you’re lucky to get another chance at being happy.”
Also Read: Coordinated For Life? Malaika Arora And Arjun Kapoor Are Twinning & Winning!
Images: Instagram
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