Salman Khan to gift a BMW to Kareena Kapoor for the Dabangg 2 item song

Reports circulated in April 2012 that Salman Khan was planning to gift Kareena Kapoor a BMW in gratitude for her item-song appearance in Dabangg 2 \u2014 a gesture that, if accurate, spoke to the informal, highly personal economics of Bollywood's biggest productions.

Note the sequel: Kareena's item song was for Dabangg 2, then in production for a December 2012 release (it became "Fevicol Se"). Getting a major star to do an item number requires a mix of professional relationships, commercial negotiation, and the personal goodwill that operates alongside formal contracts in Bollywood's ecosystem. Kareena was then one of the most bankable female stars in Hindi cinema; her appearance in any film, even briefly, carried commercial value.

The same month, Kareena was also shooting an item song for Rowdy Rathore \u2014 "Chinta Ta Ta Chita Chita" \u2014 reportedly as a favor to the film's co-producer Shabinaa Singh, a close friend, for which she charged nothing. The BMW story, whether precisely accurate or an approximation of some gesture of gratitude, illustrated how the industry works at the top: through an economy of favors, reciprocal appearances, and gifts that formalize informal goodwill.

Item songs occupy a peculiar commercial space in Hindi cinema \u2014 brief, highly choreographed star sequences released as music videos to generate pre-release attention. Landing one from a star of Kareena's stature was a coup for any production, and productions at this level expressed their appreciation accordingly.

This item was updated during our 2026 editorial audit to correct the title, which conflated Dabangg (2010) with Dabangg 2 (2012), the film the item song was actually for.

Reports circulated that Salman Khan was planning to give Kareena Kapoor a BMW as a gift in gratitude for her item song appearance in Dabangg — a gesture that, if accurate, spoke to the informal and highly personal economics of Bollywood's biggest productions.

Item songs in Hindi cinema occupy a peculiar commercial and cultural space. Typically brief, highly choreographed sequences featuring a major star performing a song disconnected from the main narrative, they function as promotional vehicles — their release as music videos generating attention for the film before it releases, their placement in the film providing a spectacle that audiences have come to expect from big-budget Masala entertainers.

Getting a major star to do an item song requires a combination of professional relationships, commercial negotiation, and the kind of personal goodwill that operates alongside formal contracts in Bollywood's ecosystem. Kareena Kapoor was, at the time of the Dabangg reports, one of the most bankable female stars in Hindi cinema. Her appearance in any film, even briefly, carried commercial value.

The BMW story — whether precisely accurate in its details or an approximation of some gesture of gratitude — illustrated how Indian film industry relationships work at the top: through an economy of favors, reciprocal appearances, and gestures that formalize informal goodwill into something tangible. This is different from but not entirely unlike how the Western entertainment industry operates.

Whether Kareena received the car, a different gift, or a check — the story itself communicated something about how these arrangements are understood and discussed within the industry.