Judges can't get emotional at all

Everyone is talking about what the contestants of reality shows are up to and how they react to criticism and so on. But nobody appears to be worried about how the poor celebrity judges have to deal with their starry contestants. Kunal Kohli, one of the judges in Nach Baliye talks about how they handle the sometimes not very polite contestants. Kunal says the participants in some cases have even gone to the extent of voicing their grievances in print but that has not affected any of them. "It is something that cannot be helped. They are entitled to their opinion but not everyone takes it in the wrong spirit. Some of them go back on a positive note with a promise to improve in the future," says Kohli.

A recent instance of a participant reacting sharply is that of Gaurav, Narayani Shastri's boyfriend, who expressed his strong resentment after being sidelined by the judges. "That was his reaction and the way he felt. On our part, we cannot afford to be emotional. Our responsibility is to be completely objective. At times we may end up unconsciously hurting the sentiments of the participants with our strong criticism but that's part of our job since we have to go by their performances and not by their emotions," says Kohli.

On the other hand, there are also cases of aggrieved participants like Raja Tiwari, who after taking ill had to be admitted to hospital and had to quit the show. Raja was subsequently quoted in a section of the media as stating that none of his fellow participants had been kind enough to inquire about his health. "I wouldn't know whether Raja's fellow participants were indifferent to his falling ill but I do know for a fact that he was very very upset that he couldn't participate in the show anymore. It was sad," Kohli recalls.

He compares the programme to "a knock-out cricket match". "They have to give it their best shot. At the end of it they are either in our out irrespective of their calibre on other occasions. It their presence of mind and their performance at that point of time that matters," he says.

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