More reality TV, more of the same diff

More reality TV, more of the same difference Consider last week: there were bomb blasts in Malegaon and every channel asked people on stand by tell us, how did you feel? Viewers were later asked the same question in those endless polls the news channels conduct to boast of how many people watch them. How would you feel if you had just been involved in an explosion, just escaped being involved in one or have dear ones lost/injured in one? Rotten, pained, in tears. With the unbearable grief of loss. It's time for Jhalak Dikhla Ja, (Sony's new talent hunt show) or Sa Re Ga Ma Pa (the oldest talent hunt show on TV). The anchor shoves a microphone down the esophagus and demands - tell us how did you feel? The contestants, still gasping for breath from their performances, brace themselves as the judges and the viewers declare their respective verdicts. Then, we see how they feel: rotten, pained, in tears. Some, with the unbearable grief of having lost. In both instances, the anchor uses the same breathless tones as though they have just escaped the bomb blast or elimination in the competition. As the man would have said if it weren't a Maggi Ketchup commercial, there's no difference, boss. When the events are as far apart as life and death. One is a play reality show, where all you lose is a chance to win money, fame and maybe a decent car or future career; the other could cost you a life, many lives. The difference in nature of the events, yet the sameness in the approach tells you how everything you watch today is has the same difference; how, we are asked to respond to small disappointments as if they are big tragedies and vice versa. Is this wrong? No, it's simply an observation about the nature of reality TV. And, just perhaps, human nature. Human nature errs. So has to be supplemented by technology. Hence, the calls by news channels to send mobile footage of the Malegaon bomb blasts, the use of eagle on cricket replays and now tennis. See how decisions at the US Opens are being taken by the replay camera? They could make all the difference between losing and winning a set, worse, the match — although they couldn't capture Pakistan's tampering with the cricket ball in the test match against England. Think about it, the way reality TV is going, we could have seen it live. Scary.

Lastly, about the new talent show, Jhalak Dikhla Ja. A pity a copy of this original show came as Nach Baliye (Star One) before the patented version. On the basis of the first show, Jhalak... is coming out second best — it can only get better. Everything is a recipe for success: husband and wife duo Parmeet Sethi (dinner jacket?) and Archana Puran Singh play funny, gracious hosts; the contestants include Mona Singh, Mahesh Manjrekar, Sanjeev "chef" Kapoor, actresses Rati Agnihotri and Pooja Bedi (with Kabir in the audience, yippee!)... and a set of young professional dancers to put them through their paces, literally, on stage. And yet, and yet.