How real is reality TV?

Students from National College play devil's advocate at a session on reality television

The 'Big Brother' show, ultimately, is just another reality show, but to get a reaction from Tony Blair for any show is a commendable task, never mind the source of comment.

How does today's youth perceive this trend? The session which was held at National College, Bandra recently saw a bunch of students assembled to discuss the issue. The two hour show was moderated by Raghu Ram, executive producer of MTV Roadies and Vaibhav Vishal, marketing director of MTV India.

"Reality shows are mostly real but they concentrate on drama. You can't criticise the channel because it is their job to make it more interesting and it's good for the contestants because they get publicity," says Sagar Sawarkar, one of the finalists on Indian Idol -2.

The session took an interesting twist when the students raised questions about shows being used to increase TRP's. Trying to titillate the audience through fights and politics on the shows were few of the negative facets of reality shows that were raised.

"There are different types of reality shows on air and while some are fabricatedmost are real. For a channel, reputation is of paramount importance." Vaibhav explained.

The drama, the tears and the bitchiness will take time to adapt itself to Indian conditions. Perhaps the biggest indicator of this is Ekta Kapoor's soon to be launched reality show.

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