Reality Check











It was a Sunday afternoon and I was sitting in front of the idiot box surfing channels. All channels were flooded with reality shows. Even the news channels were showing recaps and highlights of all the reality shows. What news are they anyway going to air 24x7?
Reality shows have gained increasing and enormous popularity in India. TRP ke liye kuch bhi karega has become the new mantra of all the TV channels…yes all. The latest trend in reality TV is that the shows are based on international formats .Big Boss ‘inspired’ from Big Brother, Kaun Banega Crorepati from Who Wants To Be Millionaire, Sach Ka Saamna from Moment Of Truth, and Indian Idol from American Idol are some of them. The key to success is ‘the more provocative the better’ .Use of abusive language, violence, sexuality is very common.
Some of the other reality shows are MTV’s ‘Roadies’, Splitsvilla’, ‘Rakhi Ka Swayamvar’ on NDTV Imagine and Sony TV’s ‘Iss Jungle Se Mujhe Bachao’ .  
True that people were tired of watching the same saas bahu daily soaps and wanted something new. So this concept of reality shows came as a change and people could connect with it. Now the question is, is this ‘The Right Entertainment’??   I am sure some of the TV channels will say that if we are responsible to air such kind of reality shows then there are people who are watching it. But then show porn movie on the TV and people will watch that too ….that does not mean you go ahead with it.
I feel that every media has some social responsibility. When a channel like NDTV airs ‘ Rakhi ka Swayamvar’ what image does that channel create?. Another show ‘Emotional Atyachar ‘on UTV Bindass is for checking the loyalty of your relationship. Private life problems which are now public…open for all the viewers to sit back on their couch and gossip. The TV channels should not get into this trap of TRP’s and show any trash to the audience.
I agree that some of the reality shows like Kaun Banega Crorepati , Sa re ga ma, India’s got talent has given an opportunity for a common man to show his/her talent ,become popular and earn money. But TV channels should definitely look into the kind of entertainment they are providing. It is high time that Indian media comes up with creative shows which are not replicas of western ones.   

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