Bollywood Item Songs: 20 Tracks That Own The Floor

Call them item numbers, special appearances or just the song everyone waits for — the Hindi film dance track is its own art form, with its own choreographers, its own rules and a shelf life that outlasts most of the films they came from. Here are the ones that still work at 1am.

The untouchables

Chaiyya Chaiyya — Dil Se.. (1998)

A.R. Rahman, Sukhwinder Singh, Farah Khan's choreography, and a moving train. Shah Rukh Khan and Malaika Arora shot on top of a train through the Nilgiris. Nothing since has matched the sheer nerve of it.

Sheila Ki Jawani — Tees Maar Khan (2010)

Katrina Kaif and Vishal-Shekhar. The film is forgotten; the song is not.

Chikni Chameli — Agneepath (2012)

Katrina again, Ajay-Atul on music, Shreya Ghoshal on vocals. Adapted from the Marathi track "Kombdi Palali", and it kept every bit of that lavani energy.

Munni Badnaam Hui — Dabangg (2010)

Malaika Arora, Lalit Pandit. The song that started the 2010s item-number arms race.

The nineties bench

Ek Do Teen — Tezaab (1988), Madhuri Dixit, Saroj Khan. The gold standard for choreography.
Choli Ke Peeche — Khalnayak (1993), Ila Arun and Alka Yagnik, and a national controversy.
Kaate Nahi Kat Te — Mr. India (1987), Sridevi in a raincoat, still extraordinary.
Humma Humma — Bombay (1995), Rahman at his most propulsive.

The dance-floor set

Kajra Re — Bunty Aur Babli (2005), Aishwarya Rai with both Bachchans
Beedi — Omkara (2006), Bipasha Basu, Vishal Bhardwaj's earthiest track
Dilbar — Satyameva Jayate (2018), Nora Fatehi, a rebuild of the 1999 original
Aankh Marey — Simmba (2019), another nineties revival that worked
Garmi — Street Dancer 3D (2020), Nora Fatehi and Badshah
Jhoome Jo Pathaan — Pathaan (2023), Deepika Padukone and Shah Rukh Khan
Besharam Rang — Pathaan (2023), a genuine chart event
What Jhumka? — Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (2023), the Pretty Woman callback

The choreographers who actually made these

Saroj Khan defined the vocabulary — "Ek Do Teen", "Dhak Dhak Karne Laga", "Choli Ke Peeche". Farah Khan brought the widescreen spectacle. Ganesh Acharya, Remo D'Souza, Bosco-Caesar and Vaibhavi Merchant carried it into the current era. When a song works, it is usually the choreography doing the heavy lifting, not the hook.

How the item number changed

The old model was a standalone number with a guest star, often unconnected to the plot. That has largely been replaced by two things: the star-led dance track built into the film's promotion cycle, and the remix of an older hit. The remix trend has been criticised heavily — often fairly — but it keeps producing chart entries, so it is not going anywhere.

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