They were primarily in the movies for an item song or as a side kick to the dreaded villains. Their existence was known to be the period in Tamil cinema when the item girl was just as important as the main cast. They were Jyothilakshmi, Jaya malini, and Anuradha. And for a while there were no big names that gained popularity, till three voluptuous ladies popped up from nowhere to daze the fans.

The first known item girl was T.R.Rajakumari though glamour was non-existent during her era, she was still considered sexy by the prevailing standards of that time. We will take you through the lanes these item girls have traveled. The idea was simple: if the heroine can't provide the glamour, bring in someone else who can and the vamp or the item girl was born and the rest, as they say, is history. But then someone had a brainwave, this idea has not been officially credited to anyone and no records exist as to where this idea originated from. It was indeed impossible to infuse glamour into such a setting. They would get up early in the morning, have a bath, light the lamp, worship the Gods and wake their husband with a cup of coffee. There was a time in Tamil cinema when most of the heroine characters were akin to ice maidens - they would never as much as look at the face of a man other than their husband, brother or father. Even the most skilled of directors has to be very careful in handling this part of his/her movie. As we have said once before, the line between glamour and obscenity is a very thin one and can be easily blurred. Of all the elements of commercial cinema, glamour is perhaps the most subtle to handle. In short, it must please the sense without hurting the sensitivities. All the elements have to be finely mixed in the right proportion to give a product that does not appear too sedate or too crude. Well, we do not mean to pull down this so called 'good' cinema but one must remember and understand that making pure commercial entertainers requires a lot of skill and is an art in itself. There might be people who say that commercial cinema is just trash and that 'good' cinema should be provided to the people. Unless there is action, comedy, romance, sentiments and glamour, a film doesn't qualify to be called a commercial potboiler.

A meal is not complete without any of these and so is the commercial cinema.

Just like a complete south Indian meal that must have everything right from sambhar, rasam, curd and the desserts, not to forget the favorite of many, the kara kozhambu. A commercial movie has to have everything.

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