But what bothers me is the shows that are branded under the concept of Reality TV. A very thin line separates the reality shows from the usual dramas of the Ekta Kapoor serials. The major difference is that these usually feature the ordinary people like you and me who are given a chance to be successful and chase their dreams and that is what makes some of them exciting.
It all started with KBC (but still that was not called reality TV), and from then on channels have been on the lookout for shows that brings out the personal life of the contestants. All this helps to garner more TRP's and thereby ad revenues but at times one's talent and committment is overshadowed by emotions (We Indians just love emotions). Several shows have come up since then with the notable ones being Indian Idol and its copy talent hunt shows, MTV Roadies, various game shows, Fear Factor, Big Boss etc.
Now jumping over to these two shows. Rakhi Sawant the goddess of Indian media (doubt if someone else receives more coverage than her), in her quest for marriage, or just another publicity gimmick started her own Swyamvar, deciding to marry a prospective groom from among the choices. On one hand was hailed as a never before thing on Indian television with talks of sex parity and women being given the say in choosing their grooms, it was slammed on the other end for scandalizing the sane institution of marriage. And from what all was seen on-screen I believe that the latter is true. These men were not showing of their skills to prove themselves as a worthy suitor but were rather acting as puppets in the hands of Rakhi to garner their 10 secs of fame. And the latest announcement of the change in decision of marriage to an engagement further intensifies the claim of it just being a publicity gimmick. Nevertheless the show managed to garner high TRP's putting 'Imagine' into the limelight.
The second show - Sach Ka Saamna is still a relatively new show. Based on 'Moment of Truth' the show quizzes contestants on a variety of personal question while they are attached to a polygraph (the lie-detector). And contestants are rewarded with money for confessing the truth to questions that are most of the times embarrassing and if not for the money, one would dare not confess it to close friends as compared to national TV. And the audiences are lapping up to view people( including some celebrities) revealing their dark secrets. The show is being labelled as testing one's greed for money over one's relationships. The show being discussed in the Parliament with a call for banning further enhanced the viewer's curiosity and gave it huge publicity. Let's see how many people in the audience are ready to lap up these truths and also the big question remains whether there could be someone truthful enough (or rather shameful enough) to win 1 crore .
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