DOPESHEET

By Nalin Sharma

1) What is reality television?

Reality television is a place where the characters are real people, the story is not scripted, and with any
failure or successes comes emotion. It is the means to increase TRP (Television Rating Points). Reality TV
satisfies that instinct of peeping into others lives, and the reality of reality television is that as humans
we enjoy this. Its popularity stems from the fact that TV shows appeal to the ‘common’ person because
they are made interesting to people that don’t have to be intellectuals. People love reality TV so much
because they can see themselves in the people on their TV screens and can relate to them or their
situation. They feel as a part of the show by the voting process introduced in some of the reality shows.

2) How did the phase of reality television start?

Reality television started in the west, in particular USA which is also regarded as the Godmother of
reality television. There have been a variety of unscripted and live television shows that date back to the
1940s. Among them, Candid Camera aired on Channel 10, in 1948, is often thought of as the first
example of reality television, where people were unwittingly exposed to pranks or silly situations by
host Allen Funt. Another show Cops which premiered in 1989 on Fox was able to make people stick to
their television sets. In many ways, MTV Bakra hosted by Cyrus Barocha jumpstarted the reality genre in
India which was actually a adaption of Candid Camera. It was followed by dare devil hunt Bum Mein
Dum on Channel V by Nikhil Chinaapa. There was also The band of girls called Viva that emerged from
this show though enjoyed short-lived popularity. Then there was Sa Re Ga Ma Pa a musical show and so
on. Reality shows in India have been a welcome break for many of the audience who were tired of
cribbing about the Ekta Kapoor's saas-bahu series that were (and some of them still are) pre-dominant
on Indian television.

3) Is reality television for real?

Reality shows seem to be a huge trend on television, but anything that is popular has to bear the brunt
of constant criticism and analysis. Controversies about these reality shows being 'planned and scripted'
or the voting lines being a hoax continue to rise every now and then. “Live” performances on shows like
Indian Idol and especially the judge’s comments may be prepared in advance when the judges watch
dress rehearsals. Celebrities who allow camera access often write into their contracts the ability to
amend or cut any scene they don’t want shown. It’s semi-real, usually not scripted, but not exactly
“real” in the sense of total access to all footage without editing for dramatic purpose. The basic recipe
remains the same as soaps: Flirtation, betrayal, tears, bitching and scheming; only it's presented as
reality.
For example the famous program Emotional Atyachar on UTV Bindass was termed by News 24 as fake by
the way of a sting operation. Two girls were called in the studio of News 24. They were dating the same
guy and were talking in a manner of close friends. They were unaware that the cameras remain on even
during the commercial breaks and they record everything. The way they were warning each other to
stay alert and not give away anything led to the uncovering of the truth. During the commercial break,
one of these girls also received a phone call which was probably from a Bindaas TV executive and the
way she spoke to her caller about creating a drama to make the show look good was also a giveaway.
Anchors of the show, Saeed Ansari and Anjana Kashyap also spoke to the girls in a very friendly way.

4) Most Popular reality shows on Indian Television

MTV Bakra
No one can ever forget Cyrus Broacha’s grinning face and the confusion and bewilderment created
amongst his victims. A wicked show with witty pranks followed by loads of laughter.

Kaun Banega Crorepati

Amitabh Bachchan’s stint on television that was perhaps the first reality show on Indian television to
garner humongous audience response. The second season of the series was hosted by Shahrukh Khan
but did not seem to fare just as well.

Indian Idol
This show has been one of the most popular reality shows on Indian television and perhaps due to the
voting factor. With boys next-door turning into ultimate singing sensations, this show already has
completed three seasons.

Sa Re Ga Ma
What started as a humble talent show hosted by Sonu Nigam soon metamorphosed into an ultra-glam,
uber-dramatic reality show with the various celebrity judges like Himesh Reshamiya, Alka Yagnik,
Abhijeet and Ismail Darbar constantly at loggerheads with each other.

Big Boss
The Indian version of UK’s Big Brother was the most sensational and controversial reality show in India.
Although long forgotten Actor Rahul Roy emerged as the winner, it was people like Anupama Verma,
Aryan Vaid (due to their on-air love-affair) and Rakhi Sawant (due to her in-your-face attitude) who got
instant recognition from this show.

The Great Indian Laughter Challenge

This hunt for India’s biggest comedian created a laughter riot on air with almost all its contestants
enjoying tremendous popularity. Star Judges Shekhar Suman and Navjyot Singh Siddhu enjoyed great
following too.

Nach Baliye
An original concept that involved celebrity couples trained by their choreographers battling against each
other in an entertaining dance competition. The show has celebrity judges like Saroj Khan, Malaika Arora
Khan, Farhan Akhtar, Kunal Kohli, David Dhawan, Isha Koppikar and Vaibhavi Merchant. The first season
was extremely popular ans so was the second one, however the third season seems to be losing its
charm.
Jhalak Dikhlaja
This was the Indian version of the hit show Dancing With the Stars, which was also very popular. The
first season had celebs like Mona Singh, Mahesh Manjrekar and Shweta Salve as participants and Farah
Khan, Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Shilpa Shetty on the judges panel. The show is currently in its second
season with Shiamak Davar, Urmila Matondkar and Jeetendra on the judging panel whereas the
participants include celebs like actress Sonali Kulkarni, anchor Mini Mathur and singer Mika.

5) Indian reality shows a copy of Foreign reality shows

Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin - Ugly Betty

Iss Jungle Se Mujhe Bachao - I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!(British Reality Show)

Sach Ka Saamna - The Moment of Truth

Bhaskar Bharti - Lalola

Kaun Banega Crorepati - Who Wants to Be a Millionaire

Kamzor Kadi Kaun - The Weakest Link

India’s Got Talent - America’s Got Talent

Indian Idol - American Idol

Jhalak Dikhlaja - Dancing With The Stars

Kya Aap Panchi Kaksha Se Tez Hain? - Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?

Rakhi ka Swayamvar - The Bachelorette

Dus Ka Dum - Power of 10

Sarkar ke Duniya - Survivor

Emotional Atyachar - The Heart Breakers

Ugesh Sarcar's 3rd Degree - Chris Angel The Mind Freak

6) Impact of reality shows on society

News clipping taken from TIMES OF INDIA Date: Sep 21, 2009

AGRA: A 32-year-old woman here allegedly committed suicide after being deeply affected by watching
actress Roopa Ganguly in the television reality show "Sach Ka Saamna". She felt her life was similar to
the actress' in many ways and that she had failed as a daughter, wife and mother, police said.

Pallavi, who has a 12-year-old son from her estranged husband, was living with a man called
Dharmendra, who too is separated from his wife. She was found hanging from the ceiling fan Sunday,
police officials said.

News clipping taken from IBN Live Date: Aug 20, 2009
Meerut: The popular reality TV show Sach Ka Saamna inspired a 40-year-old man in Meerut to play
truth or dare with his wife and when he couldn't handle the truth about his wife's alleged affair, he tried
to kill her.
On Sunday morning Rajesh Sonkar took his wife to an isolated spot, 16 km away from Meerut, on the
pretext of playing their own version of Sach Ka Saamna.
When the wife confessed that one of their children was not Rajesh's, he slit her throat and fled from the
spot.
Rajesh has confessed saying, "Maine usse poocha ki bachhe kiske hain, use ne bola ki ek mera aur ek
uska. Hamari ladai ho gayi aur maine use mar diya. (I asked her whether the children were ours, she
said one was. We had a fight and I killed her.")

News clipping taken from IBN Live Date: Aug 12, 2008
Kolkata: A hotel caretaker in West Bengal's Midnapore town, allegedly pushed off from the fifth floor of
the hotel on Saturday, by reality show producers and contestants of a TV reality show, died on Tuesday,
police said.
"23-year-old Prasun Adhikari suffered serious head injuries and was admitted to the SSKM Hospital in
Kolkata on Saturday. Adhikari was allegedly beaten up and then pushed from the fifth floor of the hotel
by the trio and another contestant Romi Nag Chowdhury on Saturday after he protested to their night-
long alcohol consumption. The team of Fatafati, a reality show aired on ETV Bangla, had gone to
Midnapore town, about 165 km from here, to shoot for a special episode on Friday.

On sets of show Bindass Dadagiri(The meanest show) Date: 3 Sep 2008

A show where four daring students revisit the horrors of being bullied on the first day of college by
surviving three dadas in three rounds and compete against each other for a winning sum of Rs. 50,000 in
cash. .Isha, a contestant, slaps another contestant dude and gets slap really hard in return. The dude is
then pounced upon by other men on the set and beaten up pretty bad.

Following news clearly tells the sate of affairs as the reality shows are crippling the society rather than
doing any good. Also people have become more irksome against each other as they follow the footsteps
of the Reality show contestants and anchors and think that they are equally capable of doing the same
things.

7) Are the reality shows doing any good to the participants?

Besides the surreal experience, the opportunities also offer a lucrative career. Take for instance MTV
Roadies or V Popstars - while the winners have their share of fame, other contestants were offered
scholarships by Rai University to pursue a career of their choice. The winners of AXN's Hot and Wild
contest have a chance to host a reality show Extreme Dhamaka. Winner of Splitsvilla gets money as well
as gets opportunity to be VJ on MTV. Almost all reality shows offer price money along with fame and
some other benefits. It is this reality television that helped India to acknowledge stand up comedy as a
profession which was never even heard about before. Salman Khan the winner of Dance India Dance 1
got to do a video with certain cash money. Debojit in Sa Re Ga Ma Pa got in another reality show, Big
Boss, a show that has nothing to do with singing Meiyang Chang, another singer from Indian Idol, made
his acting debut in the film Badmaash Company. Indian Idol’s first winner, Abhijeet Sawant, is now an
actor and a TV host. Ayushman and Bani from Roadies became VJ’s with MTV itself. Ashutosh Kaushik
roadies winner also won Big Boss 2. Pravesh Rana a participant in Big Boss 3 has become anchor in Chak
Dhoom Dhoom along with Bindu Dara Singh as one of the judge in the same show. Usually people get
somewhere or the other in their lives and they might not be at these positions provided they had not
participated in Reality shows.

On the flipside children are being a part of reality shows too which is not such a good thing. It is just like
child labour. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had recommended a
minimum age of 16 a year ago but, no decision has yet been taken. For example DID Lil Masters age
requirement is between 5 to 13 years while Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Lil Champs demands any age less than 13
years. Certain shows go against the ethics of the society exposing the participants to gross humiliation
for our amusement. A strict check on reality shows would be a great thing and the bottom line still
remains that reality shows would never fade away, it is the society that has to decide what is good and
what is bad.