Reality B(i)ytes!!!
"So turant apne mobile uthaiye and vote for....."
This has perhaps, in the recent times, been the most spoken sentence on Indian television.Hosts (and Hostesses!!! (wink) ) of all genres have hammered the TV audiences to the extent that they have no other choice left but to involuntarily send an SMS or two!!!
As far as I can remember, it all started with a singing talent hunt that was carried out nationwide by a famous music channel(yup...you guessed it right!) and since then....the concept of 'reality shows' has gripped the nation like anything.It has even gone further to uproot the much established 'saas-bahu' operas that thronged the daily prime-time of nearly every private channel in the ratrace for hyping their TRPs.
Needless to say,'Indian Idol' was the icing on the cake.The format of the show (though it was firangi) had hit the sweet-spot of the young and old. The fate of Abhijit Sawant,the first ever Indian Idol,was an epitome of the typical "rags-to-riches" story.The glamour that such shows promised the youngsters had them drooling, even to the extent of running away from their homes to participate in what they thought was an 'ideal platform' for their dreams.
Since the inception of 'Indian Idol', reality shows have flooded the television, each one offering more than its counterparts. The hunt has been for various wierd, but exciting purposes. Some of them hunted for the 'best celebrity dance couple' ,while others for the 'best celebrity singer' (eeek...now that was a FLOP SHOW!!!Just a filler though.)
Much has been talked about whether such talent hunts really fit the bill. The truth is that 'raw' struggle, that was previously restricted to 'begging for chances', was now replaced by a more sophisticated and 'packaged' one. Though the understanding of the essence of 'struggle' would be on the lesser side, nonetheless, it's a struggle in it's own way. And more so because the fate of these participants is unnecessarily left in the hands of the 'junta'. Though the selection has been spot-on till now in every case,once the 'junta' comes to know of its 'powers', results won't be that good, I guess!! :-)
Struggle or not, talent always proves its mettle once it gets a platform. Such shows no doubt prove to be the launching pads for many a hopeful, but delegating the decision-making process to the people can prove to be costly.Till that time, get used to the contestants begging for Votes day in and day out!!!
NJOI :-)
This has perhaps, in the recent times, been the most spoken sentence on Indian television.Hosts (and Hostesses!!! (wink) ) of all genres have hammered the TV audiences to the extent that they have no other choice left but to involuntarily send an SMS or two!!!
As far as I can remember, it all started with a singing talent hunt that was carried out nationwide by a famous music channel(yup...you guessed it right!) and since then....the concept of 'reality shows' has gripped the nation like anything.It has even gone further to uproot the much established 'saas-bahu' operas that thronged the daily prime-time of nearly every private channel in the ratrace for hyping their TRPs.
Needless to say,'Indian Idol' was the icing on the cake.The format of the show (though it was firangi) had hit the sweet-spot of the young and old. The fate of Abhijit Sawant,the first ever Indian Idol,was an epitome of the typical "rags-to-riches" story.The glamour that such shows promised the youngsters had them drooling, even to the extent of running away from their homes to participate in what they thought was an 'ideal platform' for their dreams.
Since the inception of 'Indian Idol', reality shows have flooded the television, each one offering more than its counterparts. The hunt has been for various wierd, but exciting purposes. Some of them hunted for the 'best celebrity dance couple' ,while others for the 'best celebrity singer' (eeek...now that was a FLOP SHOW!!!Just a filler though.)
Much has been talked about whether such talent hunts really fit the bill. The truth is that 'raw' struggle, that was previously restricted to 'begging for chances', was now replaced by a more sophisticated and 'packaged' one. Though the understanding of the essence of 'struggle' would be on the lesser side, nonetheless, it's a struggle in it's own way. And more so because the fate of these participants is unnecessarily left in the hands of the 'junta'. Though the selection has been spot-on till now in every case,once the 'junta' comes to know of its 'powers', results won't be that good, I guess!! :-)
Struggle or not, talent always proves its mettle once it gets a platform. Such shows no doubt prove to be the launching pads for many a hopeful, but delegating the decision-making process to the people can prove to be costly.Till that time, get used to the contestants begging for Votes day in and day out!!!
NJOI :-)
posted by Abhinav at 6:19 AM
4 comments
