Making "Reality"....

I am ardent lover of Music and Dance and readily connect to any kind of art forms. This is one of the very obvious reasons that I watch every damn reality show ( singing, dancing shows aired with no language barrier) that have swept Indian television in recent times. Last weekend, I was at my friends place and we had planned with great excitement to watch couple of grand finales (of music shows) that were lined up.

One of the finale we watched was the hunt for a "Chote Ustaad" in singing which kick started at 7:00 in the night. The first hour was really a joyous journey with 2 amazingly talented girls singing to glory - the best known melodies and dance numbers. This was the first time 2 girls have made it to the final. The second hour also filled us with a sense of elation wondering how tough it would have been for the gals who were <=14 to keep enthralling the crowd by being upto the mark in singing and showcasing their talent. Slowly third and eventually fourth hour also crept in and there was no sign of announcing the winner of the evening. We started getting impatient. This is a show which had tested the contestants for months now and was it really needed to toil the kids so much for an advertising stint???!!!

The comparer, who was also a poor Junior of the same show sometime ago, kept on hinting that the coming up song was the "Last" performance and there never seemed to be an end. It was very evident that the girls were lip syncing the songs since singing no longer remained "SINGING" anymore. It has adorned a new element of glitter, gloss and movement. They have to sing, dance, act and do everything possible, to catch the attention of the audiences, which can’t go right in an open air stadium when you have a finale stretching for 5 hours and there are lakhs of eyes watching them. Surely it is no longer a question of proving their talent but keeping the crowd and sponsors happy whose money is at stake. Do they have to do this in the name of a reality show???!!!

Things dont stop there. India being a "Celebrity craving" society, no show is ever complete without named celebs. Bollywood biggies like Amithabh and few others graced the finale and gals had to further enact the play of Singing before them and this extended for another hour. Every judge, guest of honor after listening was asked an opinion as to who was the best of the two and none were frank enough to take a stand just to keep the curiosity intact. C’mon!! It’s a basic human instinct to develop a soft corner when you hear two sides and what grave mistake is it to just say who you feel is the best. The liners each said were so well rehearsed just adding to our impatience. So very artificial.....These reality shows are surpassing the drama we see in the soaps.

Then there are these SMS polls dividing the entire nation in regions to vote the candidate from their region making talent take the back seat and just fill pockets of the sponsors and increase the TRPs of the channel. Channels are not leaving any card unturned that can mint money for them in anyform. When so much money, emotions and pride involved for a simple singing show, just imagine the amount of pressure the kids and thier parents would be undergoing. I saw in one of the channels where a contestants mother getting a heart pain while the results being announced. Is this much hype and pressure really needed for hunting a real talent ??!!! We had the great MS or Lata or Sonu for that matter who proved their mettle with nothing in place. This unwanted competition atmosphere is created by the franchises to meet thier ends in surplus. We have a Voice of India or an Indian idol every 3 months now whose fame is as short lived as a water droplet on a lotus.

After an evening of overdone reality( if one can call it), I felt only thing that’s surely “REAL” was the foolishness of the audiences watching these so called "Reality shows" at the expense of their time, money and energy.
Making this so called "Reality" work has become a part and parcel of every show whose soul purpose is to bully people that this Virtual reality is Real. This has just not stopped just with talent hunts or shows but is slowly creeping into every walk of our Lives. I feel People would soon fail to distinguish what is real and what is surreal. A scary future awaits for us.....

P.S: I was so digusted with the overdose of the grand finale thingy, that I was provoked to spurt out my anger this way;) Few more observations may follow...

~$,08/04/2008, 11:45pm