The reality run .....Star Voice of India Chhote Ustaad

Name us an entertainment channel, and we will name you a song or dance contest. Star Plus: Star Voice of India Chhote Ustaad, Nach Balliye; Sony: Jhalak Dikhla Ja, Boogie Woogie; Zee: Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li’l Champs; Sahara: Jhoom India; 9x (the new channel on air): Mission Ustaad. And, the forthcoming NDTV Imagine has announced a range of ‘reality’ shows, all singing and dancing on the air, the latest one demanding a news conference, well before it has been telecast. It’s called Shava Shava, and it will be judged by none other than that television star film director (these days that’s the order in which you rank him), Karan Johar. If you investigate the viewership ratings for these channels, it’s clear that the audience likes what it sees. All these reality shows are rated high on each channel’s ratings. In fact, Jhalak… is the only programme on Sony that shows up on the ratings chart. All these reality shows bank upon the amiability of the anchor, the charisma of the contestants, the histrionic skills of the judges, the stardust presence of Bollywood chief guests — lastly, the talents of the contestants. To our knowledge the only programme which has not seen the judges playing at getting angry is Jhalak Dikhla Ja on Sony. It has retained a certain decorum, even while it is a whole lot of fun. It is the melodramatic quotient in these shows that has seen them re-telecast on news channels. If you happen to miss your weekend dose of any of the above, just watch the news. Name me one news channel in English or Hindi that doesn’t carry reality shows in their entirety or at least from beginning to end (!), and we’ll name you a channel without film stars: they don’t exist. This peculiar and inexplicable relationship between song and dance and the news: what is it the news channels are saying to us — that they’re just one long song and dance about nothing? Well, that they often are, but do we need them to be so literal about it? It makes you wonder about several things. Firstly, why do news channels report on reality shows when they ignore our soaps? Thought those would make wonderful headline stories. Breaking News: Ma-in-law kills daughter-in-law. Just in: Bahu is reborn to kill Saas; Next Up: Now Bahu’s bahu is out to kill her… Would be a more interesting sight than all these ghost stories the news channels carry throughout the week. Secondly, what is it with these reality shows? Are they really worth all the blather? Why should you want to watch Shekhar Suman taking decisions about who should stay with him on Jhoom India? It’s not interesting. And why must we make young boys and girls sing Hindi film songs about love, death and other tragic events they haven’t the faintest clue about in shows like Chhote Ustaad or Li’l Champs? How is that fun? Clueless. The fact that the public watches these shows is not a revelation or any indication of their quality. There’s nothing else to watch on weekend prime time. In any case, who wants to watch those dreary soaps with middle aged women still running after their husbands? No, no. Speaking of running, why are news channels running after Narendra Modi as if he acquired the superstar status of Shah Rukh Khan? Here is a man who has said things which should be left unsaid, who knows he is making communal remarks and revels in them and here is a media that gives him all the space in the world to say whatever he likes including things that should be left unsaid. Every TV journalist worth his or her name scrambled onto his bus or whatever he travels in, and let

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