Sushmita Sen takes pride in doing item numbers especially when it was frowned upon

The star revealed that the industry stamped lead actors with a bad reputation for dance numbers

Bollywood diva Sushmita Sen recently revealed that she takes pride in the multiple item numbers she has featured in over the course of her career. The 46-year-old star shared that the Indian showbiz industry frowned upon actors who starred in item songs for the film, regardless of gender. However, the Main Hoon Na star never shied away from taking on the dance numbers.

Some of her popular item numbers include Main Kudi Anjani Hoon (Zor), Mehboob Mere (Fiza), Dilbar Dilbar (Sirf Tum), Shakalaka Baby (Nayak) and Shakira (No Problem) among others.

In a conversation with Film Companion, Sen recalled conversations on film sets in the olden days. The Aarya actor said, “I'm very proud of the fact that at a time when they would say 'Item number? Lead actors don't do item numbers, it's bad for their reputation. And I was always like take me. I've had two managers leave me because they were like that at that point. [They would say,] 'She's crazy, she's saying yes to doing an item song, and you were trying to cast her in a full-fledged film'” She further added, “Music is music and it will survive even a bad film.”

Upon consequences of going against your manager’s suggestions, she said, “Back in the day, if you said no to your manager about something or you said, 'You think it's a bad idea but I still want to do it'. They would get offended and be like, 'We have no importance. We have been in the industry for many years, we know how to do this'”

Sen was last seen in the Ram Madhvani directorial web series Aarya 2. She essayed the role of Aarya Sareen, a mother combatting the dark world of crime and enemies closing in on her family and children.