Gone are the days when Indian reality shows would bet only and only on the talent of contestants taking part in them. The format of reality shows is today more on scripted and planned lines and focuses less on impromptu real gestures. The sympathy factor plays a big role in upping the TRPs of reality shows. It is believed that the more contestants and even judges cry, the more the viewership of that particular episode of a reality show is.
We have had mostly all the Indian reality shows falling prey to this concept of picking up contestants from the poor and extremely backward class and depicting their poverty-stricken journey. Their journeys and struggles have always melted hearts. Their heart-wrenching stories are put up as videos every single time before the participants appeal for votes. In all this, the real essence of how talented the contestant is gets lost.
Sunny Hindustani from Indian Idol used to polish shoes while sitting on the streets. His video used to get played every now and then. Salman Ali who went on to be the winner of Indian Idol again came from very low financial strata. He had a huge family with many sisters, and he was the only breadwinner. His house and the poverty-stricken condition in the house were shown regularly to gain viewers’ attention. Chetan Salunke, Dance Plus Season 4 winner was a lad who had financial problems. His mother was a maid and his father a labourer. It is fine to showcase the poor section of people in big reality shows, but is there a need to project their poverty and sorrows on National Television regularly?
Do you remember the Indian Idol contestant Ankush Bhardwaj who had a major eye problem? He dreaded that he might go blind one day, and his pain and suffering were shown again and again. Remember Bir Radha Sherpa, winner of Dance Plus and Dance Champions? His sad tale was always shown. The pathos mood was set perfectly in such a way that whenever he was on screen, there was an emotional tune or background that was put.
Talk about Bigg Boss, every season has huge emotional drama. Do you remember the emotional breakdown that Bani had in Bigg Boss 10? Priyanka Sharma and Divya Agarwal’s melting down moment in Bigg Boss 11 became a talk of the town. Rakhi Sawant’s emotional antics in Bigg Boss 15 kept viewers on their toes. And what about the emotional drama that was involved during the televising of Sara Khan and Ali Merchant’s wedding on Bigg Boss?
Coming to judges and their dramatized moments in reality shows, Neha Kakkar will hands-down win the race as she is known for crying buckets in every episode of Indian Idol that she has judged. Precious moments in episodes are lost as Neha picks up her handkerchief every now and then. She cries when she is happy and cries more when she is sad!!
The same can be said about Geeta Kapur and her crying skills. She gets overdramatic on the set of Super Dancer and tears roll over quite often, which is tough to digest. Super Dancer has had judge Shilpa Shetty weeping uncontrollably in every episode.
Such triggered acts of sorrow and cries have been booed time and again by the audience. However, the makers seem to be taking that in their stride, offering viewers an overdose of emotional drama on TV. There have also been judges like Anurag Basu, Urmila Matondkar and many others who have time and again defended the reality show they are judging, claiming the drama there to be real and not scripted.
The emotional drama shown in every other reality show nowadays is extremely hard to digest. When makers focus more on this aspect of pain and drama, real talents and their worth are not opened up more on reality shows, is the consensus of the viewers who watch them regularly. Moreover, the monotony of the cries and emotions leaves the audience with a bitter taste, and not happy memories.
These are only a few instances of the emotional drama we have mentioned here, that happens in reality shows. We are sure if our readers put their thinking caps on, they can come up with many such instances and episodes where reality shows have dealt only with the attribute of emotions.
We hope the broadcasters and makers bring about a seachange in the manner in which reality shows get construed and executed.
