Indian reality TV is problematic. It’s not what it seems.

There is a common adage which goes on like,” there is no reality in reality shows”. How far is this from the truth can be debatable but one thing that we can all unanimously agree upon is that if there had been a sport of monetising people’s emotions, Indian reality shows would stand a winner.

Being a millennial,I have grown up watching numerous reality shows . I remember the shows like sabre ga ma pa, Indian idol creating a mass craze on Indian tv. and how all this as a phenomenon had gripped ever in its clutches. The craze got even more palpable when kids reality shows started erupting on almost all channels. Not only would it keep us more glued to our idiot boxes but it resulted in the start of an insidious shift in our mindset’s.

Seeing people from all walks of life participating in varied talent auditions and getting a level playing field to compete gave a flicker of hope to Indian audience to dream more, dream big. It was both entertaining and inspiring at the same time. From singing to dancing , from cooking to gymnastics,everything got a room . People would watch the shows as a recreation but soon would get invested in a participant’s story. They would follow up the show sometimes for just those select candidates whose story had moved them emotionally. This became a base for casting votes from our very mobile phones.

All this seemed a great way of becoming a contributor in changing someone’s life. However gradually over the years , the producers soon realised the huge market this realm entails. Hitherto, we can see how a candidate’s sob story is given way more time than their actual performance . I am not undermining their tribulations but I am actually highlighting the money making gimmick these tv masterminds are employing which is capitalising on people’s vulnerabilities. This not only gives them viewerships and TRP but also propagates a mindset of ‘quick fix success ‘ in people’s mind.

Success is hard. It doesn’t come handy . Even if you are talented, getting recognised isn’t a cake walk. Reality shows present a picture of possibilities in a sugar coated way. They are fooling you by showing only the success stories. What about the ones who couldn’t get through auditions,who couldn’t become winners and ended up runner ups? They will never highlight the continued struggle of all those people because they want you to believe in their show. They want u to believe that their show is a life changing platform even if u spent hours lying on ur couch scrolling through ur phone and tv channels .That ensure that u remain hooked to these nonsense theatrical.

This gets more problematic in children’s reality shows. Here they are playing with the minds of young folks who haven’t yet figured out literally anything in their life. Both the participants and the audience is so young that the whole formats of these shows cast wrong perceptions about success and failure. Votes and numbers become their metric to evaluate their worth. This is like a poison to their self esteem. Besides , the pressure that they would experience in the whole competition would be so taxing at an age that is meant to explore, enjoy and for gods sake “studying”. Why is education getting a back seat ! Sure each person may have a different talent and passion and may choose a different field in their life ahead but isn’t a basic education needed?

There is no denying that India is a land full of people with myriads of talent but irrespective of talent it is the grit and perseverance that leads to a lasting success. Anything that promotes instant gratification and short cuts is downright misleading.