I’ve always taken a big paycheck for item numbers

Tamannaah Bhatia, who has performed for a couple of item numbers in the past, has recently grooved for another number—this time with Nikhil Kumar, son of Karnataka former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, for ‘Jaguar’.

The number was shot in Hyderabad last week. When asked why she chose to do another number especially with her career going great guns, she asserted, “People like me for the dance I do and they enjoy my numbers. When I started off in the industry, people didn’t look at item numbers as a good thing, especially heroines doing them. It was a thought limited to South only as Kareena Kapoor, Katrina Kaif and Deepika Padukone were doing such numbers back then in Bollywood. I never understood where the problem lay in South, so I decided to take up item numbers only if they were envisioned in a right way. Now Kajal (Aggarwal) and Shruti (Haasan) too are doing item numbers. If we are adding glamour to the film, why not?”

When asked was she paid a bomb for ‘Jaguar,’ she deadpanned, “I’ve always took a big paycheck for item numbers.”