Rhythm and blues-Article

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Posted: 18 years ago

Rhythm and blues

When reality TV crashed into our drawing rooms years ago, no one imagined how intense the situation will become. It is now making its presence felt even in talent hunt shows. Nidhi Mittal gives you a lowdown

When Indian Idol contestant Emon Chatterjee was kissed by a girl during the shoot for one of its episodes, everyone including the hosts and judges were aghast. An embarrassed Emon didn't know how to react but decided to add more heat to the show. He sang a song for the girl with her name in every line. This incident is testimony to the fact that more people are falling in love with the show.

This is the unexpected turn that reality shows on Indian television are taking. To add that extra spice to their otherwise monotonous shows the makers have started resorting to such gimmicks that would boost their TRPs. And what better way to do that than showing the popularity that the contestants enjoy.

But how do we judge whether all this is, in fact, happening or it's just a dramatisation? One would understand if the contestants fight among themselves over who is the best, but judges fighting over them? It's mind-boggling to think why would celebrity judges indulge in frequent tiffs over a bunch of people who they don't even know.

We agree that they have been hired to teach and encourage the young talent, but when singer Alka Yagnik and Aadesh Srivastava argued endlessly over a contestant in Voice of India, followed by Alka's decision to quit, it was an overdose of drama in a reality show. All this could have easily been edited but the producers instead opted to gain mileage from it.

And when you have Himesh Reshammiya as a judge on your show, contestants don't have to work too hard to make the show popular. Reshammiya is consistently seen arguing with co-judges. Be it Ismail Darbar or Asha Bhonsle, he leaves no stone unturned to make Sa Re Ga Ma a potboiler.

Of course, no publicity is better than negative publicity. Take the case of the otherwise sweet and sensitive Juhi Parmar, playing Kumkum, who lost her cool when her famous Juhi Ki Jhappi became a bone of contention between the parents of young contestants. Parents argued why Juhi did not hug their child and hugged another one instead.

On another occasion, Aditya Narayan, son of Udit Narayan and host of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, was kissed and later proposed to in front of millions of viewers. Aditya blushed with embarrassment. Ismail Darbar, one of the judges, spiced it up further by calling the girl on stage again and teasing them both to the core. He went on to praise Aditya for the good work he is doing and mentioned that he was hugely responsible for the show's popularity.

The parts that could have easily been edited were highlighted on primetime television.

"It is not at all a publicity stunt. It's all part of reality TV. How can we cut the argument between Alka and Aadesh and then show them not talking to each other for the rest of the episodes? All of them together form a montage," says Gajendra Singh, producer-director, Star Voice of India.

He says he had a hard time convincing Alka and Aadesh to continue with the show. He even claimed that TRPs of these episodes recorded a drop because people didn't want to watch useless arguments.

But one still wonders where's the need for all this voyeurism on TV?

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