Secret behind the reality shows

1.608674-2855400218 — Dance contest turned telly actors into big stars. Image Credit: Supplied

Get Real!' That seems to be the magic mantra of the television industry in India these days. The glut of reality shows on various television channels is becoming plain mind-boggling. Singing, dancing, joking, gaming, dating, marrying or even simply living together - anything that can be possibly done in everyday life is now being packaged as a reality show. As if one's current life wasn't enough, now there are shows which put people on a couch and ask them to recount their past life experiences.

What the trend reveals is quite clear - that the Indian audiences are gleefully lapping up these shows and craving for more. It's not just the TV channels that are at fault there are so many people out there who are willing to spend their money to send SMSes to pick their favourites from these shows.

The innocuously interesting ones

The early Indian TV reality shows began rather innocuously with simple things like music and dance contests, and comedy shows. The ‘reality' of these programmes was limited to the ‘unscripted' smiles, tears and outbursts of the contestants and their supporters.

Hosts like Annu Kapoor, Sonu Nigam, Cyrus Broacha, Javed Jaffrey, Shekhar Suman, Ranvir Shorey and Vinay Pathak became extremely popular through such shows. These programmes also unearthed some really talented singers, dancers and comedians. But the success of these shows then spawned many contenders and pretenders. In the end, the overkill simply took away their novelty and charm, despite desperate attempts to spice up their formats.

The tectonic shift

The tectonic shift in reality shows came with the advent of Kaun Banega Crorepati. No doubt the earlier quiz shows hosted by the likes of Sidhharth Basu and Derek O'Brien had already found a niche audience. But the entry of Amitabh Bachchan as the quiz master changed the rules of the game in Indian television. The unprecedented popularity of the quiz show (an Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire) suddenly made television a hot spot for celebrities and a gold mine for sponsors and advertisers.

Shilpa Shetty's big-buck win in UK's Big Brother then opened the proverbial flood gates, paving the way for many reality shows borrowing their core ideas from reality shows in the West. So now the channels are flooded with plenty of dare-bare and share-the-same roof shows. Other show makers stepped in with their so-called original Indian concepts centred around brides, bridegrooms, mothers-in-law and rebirths!

The scene today

Forget Bollywood, actors like the Bachchans, Khans and Kapoors are now turning into regular figures on the small screen. The main beneficiaries of this reality phenomenon have been the wannabe models, mediocre actors, failed cricketers, publicity-seeking politicians, cash-hungry commoners and anyone else who'd not think twice about washing their dirty linen in public. Even the news channels are benefiting from it, with inane gossip helping them fill up broadcast space.

One season for dating and engagement, another for marriage and honeymoon, a third season for child-birth, fourth for discord and divorce and fifth for re-marriage. Isn't that a great original theme for a reality show? Just get a hare-brained B-grade actress and a not so smart guy as the lead couple. After all, to borrow from a show title isn't today's motto entertainment ke liye kuchh bhi karega (‘Would do anything for entertainment')?

So what if all these shows are turning all of us into mindless peeping Toms? So what if they are promoting mediocrity and indecency as some kind of rare talents? So what if they are just manufacturing a glamourised pop-version of ‘reality' while being miles away from real life? Do we really care? Well, when it's on the telly, anything goes!

Some popular reality shows