Tamannaah Bhatia has established herself as the most popular item girl at the moment, with ‘Ghafoor’ from The Bads of Bollywood trending everywhere. The YouTube video already has 22 million views, and social media is flooded with reels celebrating the song’s unshakeable vibe. While the value of the song itself may be debatable, Bhatia’s moves and costumes have audiences in a chokehold.
Released after the show’s premiere, the song is based on the underworld don played by Arshad Warsi, whose presence is emphasised precisely through his absence in the track. With Bhatia dancing to the beats, frankly, no one is complaining about who else is or isn’t part of the song. Malaika Arora Khan and Nora Fatehi may have once been the reigning queens of item numbers, but Bhatia has carved out her own space.
Though not originally part of the series, the song was used to promote The Bads of Bollywood, teasing audiences with the mystery of who or what ‘Ghafoor’ is. And the strategy worked.
We once had Kareena Kapoor Khan delivering an iconic item song with ‘Fevicol Se’ in Dabangg 2, and Katrina Kaif becoming a generational memory with ‘Sheila Ki Jawani’. Now Bhatia is leaving her mark across industries, with even her paycheck reportedly becoming a subject of speculation.
The new lady luck
While Canadian dancer and actor Nora Fatehi has also built a strong portfolio of item songs, she seems to have shifted her focus to international collaborations with Jason Derulo, CKay, and Rayvanny. This gave Bhatia the perfect window to cement her own place in the industry, and in the dance playlists of audiences.
‘Ghafoor’ marks the actor’s third consecutive item song, with one release each year: ‘Kaavaalaa’ in Jailer (2023), ‘Aaj Ki Raat’ in Stree 2 (2024), and now ‘Ghafoor’. Each one has also spotlighted her career in Hindi, with her web series Jee Karda premiering just before ‘Kaavaalaa’ became a global sensation.
Bhatia’s OTT work has gained momentum as well, whether with Jee Karda (2023) or Sikandar Ka Muqaddar (2024). With ‘Aaj Ki Raat’ going viral and Stree 2 emerging as one of the highest-grossing films of the year, Bhatia has almost become lady luck, helping projects turn into box-office winners.
Jailer grossed Rs 604.5 crore worldwide, while Stree 2 earned Rs 857.13 crore. Now The Bads of Bollywood has become the most-watched show on Indian streaming platforms released in the weeks of September 15-21.
Bhatia has scored a neat hat-trick.
What she has done to establish her career in entertainment is not entirely new. When Samantha Ruth Prabhu performed ‘Oo Antava’ in Pushpa: The Rise (2021), she shot into the pan-India limelight while also making her mark with The Family Man Season 2. Bhatia, too, has followed a similar path in her Hindi comeback after both Himmatwala (2013) and Entertainment (2014) turned out to be flops.
This time, however, she has successfully stamped her presence in both item songs and web series. And in Bhatia’s own words, if a child has to watch her songs while eating their food, then “so be it.”
(Edited by Prashant)