Helen | Mehbooba Mehbooba | Sholay

Mehbooba Mehbooba, etched in the minds of every Indian, had everything – a seductive tempo that fanned the chicanery of heroes and villains, a caravan of itinerant musicians - exotic and distrustful; and of course, a tantalizing Item, Helen, the gypsy-temptress, belly-dancing in the glow of a desert bonfire, her sexuality offered willingly to the lascivious gaze of gangster supremo - Gabbar Singh. Helen’s two-layered hip scarf, skimpy bra-top, dripping with beads and baubles, played the ultimate rabble-rouser. This blockbuster song may have had the entire nation's eyes on her virile hips; but in particular, it made women, stifled in patriarchy in different corners of India, ache for freedom.