Reality Shows have taken the Indian Entertainment by the storm. TV was never so up close and personal like the way it is, with a flurry of Reality Shows being dished out from every other channel.
If I am not wrong, the trend was started by the oh-so creative MTV India, with one of the most popular shows a.k.a MTV Roadies. The show was a stupendous success and has been carrying on for quite sometime now.
Switch to the present and we have too many shows to count on fingers. In this wave of Reality Shows, the recent biggies that have caught the eye of everyone are Rakhi ka Svyamvar and Sach Ka Saamna.
Sach ka Samna – a rip-off from ‘The Moment Of Truth’, has been subjected to a lot of criticism on moral and cultural issues.
I am not here to justify the credibility of the show and its repercussions on the cultural and moral values of the viewers, but one thing I am certain of is this, The Indian Entertainment Industry is definitely not degrading the cultural values of India by airing such shows. Why? There are multi-fold reasons for this,
- Media won’t show something until there are enough takers
- Media is not forcing anyone to watch what they are airing; the viewer can switch the channel anytime he/she wants.
- The average Indian TV viewer IMHO is smart enough to distinguish between what is harmless Entertainment and what to take out of it.
If these shows were about destroying the Indian Cultural Values, why do we see amazing TRP’S on these Reality Shows. This guarantees the fact, that there is a good percentage of the viewers who want to see the Reality Shows.
It is outright wrong to call these Reality Shows a culture Destroyer.
Moreover, for those viewers who go all out in bad mouthing these serials, why do they see the show at all. For people who see these shows and still give their speech on morality, this picture is an apt one
Viewer discretion apart, what pains me the most is the Reality Show coverage In the Parliament. This is the height of stupidity. Aren’t there more critical issues at hand then discussing whether the Government should ban shows like “Sach ka Samna” etc.
Last I checked India had serious problems with poverty, economy and infrastructure to name a few. And these are the areas we need the government to act.
But, did we actually go out there and ask the government to become the ‘Keepers of our Cultural Values”. I sure didn’t. And why should we, the way I see it, Cultural/Moral Values are Individualistic things.
Having said that, it doesn’t mean that the media/entertainment channels don’t influence them. But if that’s the case, why single out the Reality Shows et all. The Government should then ban all Saas-Bahu epidemic that is being thrown at the viewer along with lot of other trash which from a moral perspective are bad influences.
I saw a debate on the same on NDTV at their show ‘Big Fight’. It was a good discussion with active participation from media (Pooja Bedi) and Politics (god knows who?) .
I am no fan of Ms. Pooja Bedi given her theatrics but she made some real good points and gave the politicians a taste of their own medicine. Some of the points she made were infact very apt and defended the Reality Show pretty well.
If a Pooja Bedi can give politicians a hard time in a debate, which is supposedly their (politicians) forte, isn’t it evident that the Politicians are not on the right side of the debate.
With that, it is interesting to note why the Government is more bothered about the kind of content displayed on the TV rather than the more important ones that they are actually supposed to.
I may not have the right answer for it, but for my 2 cents.
“In this era of Publicity, The Politicians sure did not want to be left out of the coverage”
What is your take on this? Do you think the TV Channels need to be censored or monitored for the content they create and air? Moreover, do we need this to be decided in the Parliament?
Would love to hear reader’s views on this
[This post has been written by Ankit Agarwal, an ERP Consultant by profession, a wannabe entrepreneur and stock market stalker by passion]