REAL(?)ity SHOWS
How far does the ‘Real’ quotient hold good?


Reality shows have perpetually been popular and since the last few years, a number of reality shows have come up, prominent ones being Indian Idol and Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, the American idol, etc . New age reality shows bring in staggering amounts of ratings by placing people in intimidating circumstances. Lot of laughs can be generated from installments of comical segments. Interest in the show by the viewers is sustained by showing the behind-the-scenes- activities of the participants. As mentioned afore, how far does the ‘real’ quotient hold good?

Majority of these shows emphatically state that they solely aim at ‘bringing out the best people in the country and unleashing their talent in the respective fields.’ How far is this true? Of late, these shows have been focusing chiefly on bringing up the TRP ratings rather than on their professed aim. This can be elucidated through the popular show Indian idol aired on Sony twice a week, hosted by Hussein and Chang, the latter being a contestant in the previous season of Indian idol and judged by Anu Mallik, Javed Akhtar, Kailash Kher and Sonali Bendre.

The show starts off with the contestants doing their act and the judges either unanimously stating that he or she is the best or fighting tooth and nail with conflicting decisions. Having seen this season of Indian Idol so far, one can note that Sonali Bendre, right from the start of the show has been rooting for a girl winner. At any given point of time, she can be seen openly supporting the female contestants over the males. Well, it isn’t a bad thing. After all, it would definitely do some good for a girl to win the Indian Idol after three seasons of guys winning it. But do they deserve it?? The last episode’s verdict has shocked many keen viewers of the show . The contestants who form the Top 3 are Sourabhee Deb Verma, Torsha Sarkar and Kapil Thapa .The shocking part is that Rajdeep Chatterjee, the ever smiling 17 year old from Kolkatta has been eliminated. On following the show right from the commencement of the season, it is obvious that Rajdeep, despite being the youngest is one of the most competent contestants on the show. Indeed, he can belt out songs from any genre. Be it a melody of Rafi’s or one of the current day numbers, this boy can sing it flawlessly, mellifluously and carry off his performance with great élan. He has neither compromised on his performance nor on his singing. The same can be said of some of the other contestants like Prasenjit , Bhavya and Shini, all of whom have been eliminated from the show. Few can forget the heartfelt rendering of Ajahun Aaye Balamaa by Prasenjit which gained him an entry into the galas with a wild card or 17 year old Bhavya’s beautiful rendering of nigahen milaneko jee chahta hai which warmed the hearts of the audience. Or so it was thought. Alas, both were prematurely eliminated in the same fashion. We are now left with Torsha, Sourabhee and Kapil as the Top 3 contestants. It can very truthfully be said that contestants like Bhavya, Shini, Rajdeep and Prasenjit can sing what Kapil, Torsha and Sourabhee can , however, undeniably, it cannot happen the other way around.

The focus of this article is mainly on Indian idol 4, but, same is the case with other reality shows like Sa Re Ga Ma Pa where talented Kaushik Deshpande, Naina Saxsena and Debojit Dutta were eliminated and the likes of Asma Mohammad Rafi stayed on.

Promotional events, advertising, behind the scenes activities, the fierce competition combined with the camaraderie between the contestants, their efforts, the reactions of the judges, the talent of the contestants etc have all been shown and yet, at the close of the day, the best doesn’t make it. It is heartbreaking to see the actual talent being underplayed.

Is it the maker’s fault or is it just that the audience is tone deaf? Is it because the less deserving singers make up for their lack of singing by dancing and performance or is it because the really good ones are not liked . Is the voting just messed up or completely rigged up?




One may never know…….