Thoughts about Indian reality(or unreality ??) shows

"Mujhe talash hai ek aise jivan saathi ki, jiske saath main puri zindagi beetana chahti hoon".. these were the words of Rakhi sawant (with kal ho na ho music in the background) when the show "Rakhi ka swayamvar" started.

Welcome to the new era of indian television shows, The Reality shows. They are getting more hype in Indian tv industry after the huge success of indian idol, Kaun Banega Crorepati and MTV Bakra. Before then most of the indian tv serials were packed with the saas - bahu gossips or family oriented serials. But now its the time for the reality shows. They are increasing TRP ratings of the channels airing them. Hence, they are jumping into this league. There are wide variety of reality shows starting from "sach ka samna" to "rakhi ka swayamvar" to "indian idol". The television channels are busy in hunting for new themes and concepts for the reality shows.

But think about the impact it is making on the audiences and the contestants participating in them. For shows like Indian idol almost more than half of Indian youth population want to participate and become indian idol. They go live on the TV for audition and some of them get humiliated from the Judges. Some pass through this stage and actually enter the competition. But the way of rejecting candidates is not so sensible for the shows like Indian Idol. By public voting they eliminate the candidate who gets less number of votes. I think that is really stupid ! How would a general public know the knowledge of music and who is actually a good and talented singer. People vote usually to support contestant of their city or region which is really unfair for a talented singer with no such support. So, when a candidate gets rejected after reaching to a higher level because of this, it might dent the candidates psychology for sure. In my opinion, it should be 50-50 percent votes from public and judges to take a fair decision.

Lets talk about other shows such as "Rakhi ka swayamvar" or " Pati patni aur woh" ... These shows look like they were already scripted. There was no point of calling them as reality shows. Plus some bunch of guys have to propose to Rakhi and woo her to make her fall in love with the guy. Earlier in this show she promised that she is going to marry the person who is selected in the end. But turns out she just gets engaged, reason ( she needs more time....... WTH ???) What is the reason for the show then..... Isn't she famous enough to get an appropriate groom by herself.. Its just a television masala for the guys who want to see a bunch of contestants getting insulted from her. These type of tv shows are not doing any good to the public.

There are many shows nowadays which is encouraging our young generation to use bad words easily in public, or raise their hands against a girl or behave immorally in public. Where are the standards of these shows ??? They are degrading the quality standards for indian audiences.

Also, shows like "sach ka samna" are becoming more raw and personal. They intervene in celebrity or politicians life and ask the questions that could make them stand naked in the public. In the entire show, they ask 21 questions that probe into their personal history and darker side of their public image. However, some decent shows in this league are "Koffee with Karan", "Rendezvous with Simi Garewal".

MTV roadies have their own history of controversies. Season 1 was well received by the audiences. But slowly it is encouraging the contestants in using foul language and indulging them into unnecessary fights and making a big fuss about it on the TV !

However, reality shows have been a boon to the TV channels with increased TRP ratings and enormous advertising revenues. But they should realize that it shouldn't impact young audiences or participants even inadvertently.