Item numbers are Bollywood's way of spicing up things.

It also provides an instant boost to a heroine's flagging career. Just look at Kareena Kapoor and Mallika Sherawat; the two benefited a great deal with the success of It's Rocking (Kya Love Story Hai) and Mayya Mayya (Guru), respectively.

Now, no film is complete without them. Jaideep Sen's directorial debut, Krazzy 4, which releases on April 11, for example has not one, but three item songs featuring Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan and Rakhi Sawant!

Needless to say, A look at 10 attention-grabbing item numberss get a lot of attention. But which ones have caught the viewers' maximum fancy over the years?

Here's our pick of the ten best. Feel free to send in yours too.

Kajra re from Bunty Aur Babli
One can never get enough of watching a smouldering hot Aishwarya Rai roll out her best thumkas to the saucy notes of Kajra re.

The power-packed duo of now husband along with father-in-law -- Abhishek and Amitabh Bachchan -- added to the Bollywood-brand of festivities.

Kajra re (Ditto for Shakti's Ishq kamina with Shah Rukh Khan) went on to achieve giddy levels of popularity and, in all probability, did more for Ash's career than her so-called overseas stint in bloopers like Bride and Prejudice and The Mistress of Spices.

Shaher ki ladki from Rakshak

Raveena Tandon began the trend of item songs with her special song and dance appearance in the hip-shaker, Shaher ki ladki.

The catchy Anand-Milind, along with Chinni Prakash's Filmfare-winning choreography and Manish Malhotra's eye-catching wardrobe, put Raveena back in the reckoning and contributed immensely to the Suniel Shetty-starrer's publicity.

UP Bihar lootne from Shool

Before Dhadkan happened, Shilpa Shetty's career was down in the dumps. In between, director E Niwas made her an offer she could not refuse.

Her fetching avatar in the lively UP Bihar song had not only these two states but the entire nation grooving to Ms Shetty's tune.

The song provided the only relief in this otherwise stark and serious cop drama starring Manoj Bajpai and Raveena Tandon.

Chamma chamma from China Gate

Director Rajkumar Santoshi's ode to Akira Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai featured an impressive line-up of tour de force actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Amrish Puri, Danny Denzongpa and Paresh Rawal, to name a few.

It's other USP was Urmila Matondkar's ravishing dance number, clad in intricate and imaginative outfit with ornate ornaments to boot.

The song in question -- Chamma chamma became a rage, so much so that its remixed version found a place in the soundtrack and dance sequence of Baz Luhrmann's vibrant musical, Moulin Rouge.

Babuji dheere chalo from Dum

Evidently, Shilpa's sexy turn in Shool prompted Niwas to try and repeat history with yet another dishy item, namely, Dum's Babuji dheere chalo.

Babuji marked the A look at 10 attention-grabbing item numbers debut of Czechoslovakian stunner, Yana Gupta on the big screen.

Her flawless disposition and nimble moves attracted a lot of cheering and wolf-whistles. While the song became a huge hit, Dum however, had no such luck.