Lyrics like chikni chameli; chikni kamar; naya naya saal hai naya naya maal hai; too sexy for you, tere haath na aani; I am a hunter, she want to see my gun; and even the recent laundiya patayenge miss call se from Dabangg 2, are part of our daily lives now.
When almost every film has an item number now with double meaning lyrics and women gyrating to it, singling out only Honey Singh – currently facing flak for offensive lyrics in his songs, means that you could well be missing out on the bigger picture.
The recent gang rape case in Delhi, and many more since, has once again triggered the age-old debate of whether vulgar songs and films, objectifying women, lead to such incidents in real life.
With an FIR now against the (in)famous Punjabi rapper Honey Singh - which got his New Year Eve performance at Hotel Bristol in Gurgaon cancelled, looms a bigger question of how songs full of innuendoes, contribute to cases of molestation, eve-teasing and rape.
Many youngsters who took part in wide-spread protests against the gang rape would undoubtedly be fans of these numbers, unaware of the deep impact it leaves on their conscious and sub-conscious minds. The views, of course, are divided as Metrolife found out.
Dr S Sudarsanan, Senior Consultant, Psychiatry, Rockland Hospital, says, “The accused in the gang rape case, who was most brutal, is a minor. Nobody is a born rapist or brutal. This brutality is learnt. Youngsters’ imitate what their role models do. What we see on television or hear on radio gets engraved in impressionable minds.”
According to him, the songs that commodify women, contain implicit, and overt sexual aggression and a mindset that it is okay to dominate a lady. “When choli ke peeche kya hai song came, a similar debate had been triggered off.
This time, the song that has sparked this debate is C***t (written and sung by Honey Singh in 2006) - the difference being that the lyrics openly promote rape and the song leaves an impression that being a rapist is natural. Or for that matter, even other dual meaning songs and item songs imply that women are only for this purpose,” he adds.
Sociologist A S Mathew says it is inappropriate to pinpoint one particular song or singer as he believes in the old school of thought which believes that cinema is a reflection of society. Though, he does agree that women’s representation in films and songs is “inapproriate. We have to start thinking of how women have been shown historically.
India has not treated its women with respect. Even in our homes, a boy child is given preference. Let’s come to terms with it. And the same implies for our films and songs,” he says.
“But”, he adds, “films and songs with ‘obscene’ lyrics and visuals are not the only source that incite crimes like rape and molestation. Religion, caste, family values, education and other factor too play a vital part in it,” says Mathew.
The songs of Honey Singh which are under scanner receive thousands of views on You Tube and are hummed by both sexes who do not support rape, molestation or eve-teasing. But, there is no clarity on what is appealing about these songs.
Leuuba Chopra, a student of Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies, says, “When it comes to Honey Singh, I relate to his dance songs. He is being targeted right now, but many Bollywood makers have also been promoting double meaning songs for a very long time. But, I don’t think only such songs can lead to rape. However, I do feel there should be a curb on them. Songs like Favikol se are disgust.