'Teri Bhabhi' Song From Coolie No. 1: Another Regressive Earworm We Didn't Need

Leave it to Bollywood to keep churning out content that demands us to outrage in a year that has already drained us of our energies. The last thing we needed amidst a pandemic that shows no signs of stopping was music that painfully iterates gender stereotypes. But that is precisely what Teri Bhabhi, the latest number from David Dhawan's Coolie No. 1, has set out to do. Starring his son Varun Dhawan and Sara Ali Khan, Teri Bhabhi was released on December 3, under the Zee Music Company banner.

Coolie No. 1, a remake of Dhawan's 1995 film of the same name that had starred Govinda in the lead, is set for a December 25 release on Prime Video. The supporting cast includes Paresh Rawal, Javed Jaffrey, Rajpal Yadav, and Johnny Lever.

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Why Can't Bollywood Let Go Of Sexism?

Senior Dhawan's films have, throughout his career, been noted for their catchy numbers that even now, remain successful earworms. The 1995 film Coolie No. 1 is a classic example, with Husn Hai Suhana and Main To Raste Se Jaa Raha Tha. Though a large section of the audience may enjoy them still, myself included, it does so with a certain pang of guilt about the sexism that is replete in these songs. Our feet may tap with the tunes, but often in tandem with our conscience that reminds us the themes of these songs are now dated and would do well to be contained in the past.

We don't want female objectification and male propriety from the 90s to be recycled in the 21st century now, do we? But this film's makers probably didn't get the memo that the world wants to move past problematic genderisation. The trailer was founded upon crass humour, offensive cross-dressing, and facepalm-worthy stereotypes. Read our trailer review.

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The Problem With The Phrase "Teri Bhabhi Hai"

And now the Teri Bhabhi song. Through the title alone, this song communicates the objectification it packages within. The phrase "Teri bhabhi hai"  is commonly used by a man to warn his guy friends to lay off "his" girl. She is his and his property alone, and no one else is to as much as look at her with desire. That he cannot even tolerate another man laying claim to the woman he loves, is something that is touted to be endearing. But is it? As I see it, this is what ownership looks like.

"Hatt jaa saamne se, teri bhabhi khadi hai" is how the lyrics of the song go. Though it probably doesn't mean to aggressively push the agenda of ownership over the female body - especially since it is a jovial, dance track where Varun Dhawan is prancing about with an endearing grin on his face - one can't deny that some inkling of that deeply sexist idea is enlarged every time the audience grooves to such a song.

Now some may angrily come at me saying that later in the song, Sara Ali Khan too sings, "Hatt jaa saamne se, there bhaiya khade hain." So why must only Dhawan's lines be scrutinised? Aren't Khan's worthy of being called out too? Isn't that ownership too? To them, I would only say congratulations for finally grasping onto the full measure of sexism.

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Watch the official music video below: 

Image Credit: Youtube screenshot

Views expressed are the author's own.