The heat and controversy generated by two television shows — Saach Ka Saamna and Rakhi Ka Swayamvar — has once again brought into focus a genre of entertainment programmes which has begun to dominate the Indian television scene outclassing other genres like the soap, sitcoms, family dramas, etc. You take it or leave it, the truth is that the reality television has made inroads into every Indian’s home and subsequently their hearts and has broken the monotony of family dramas. It has ushered in innovative ideas and given the viewers an opportunity not only to watch programmes from the comforts of their homes but also to participate in them. Take for example, Zee TV’s Sa Re Ga Ma Pa or Sony Television’s Indian Idol — these shows allow the audience to choose the winner through a voting system. Although the credibility of these voting systems is debated about forever, the interactivity factor definitely fetches these shows a lot of following.

But the very concept of reality shows is somewhat vague. What do you mean by reality? Are the shows really real? The other day, a top national television channel went on debating whether these shows represent a manufactured reality? The anchor, it seemed had no idea that in mass media today, right from news presentations to entertainment programmes everything is being manufactured and sold. The actual happening or an event never reaches the viewer. The reality is lost partially in the collection, production and transmission process. And reality shows are basically entertainment programmes. The facade within the reality shows was aptly illustrated in Slumdog Millionaire. The idea behind ‘reality shows’ was basically to encompass any portrayal of people in unscripted situations. The concept was to put ordinary people or celebrities in real-life situations and allow the viewer to peep into their lives and enjoy the thrill. The viewers, thus, become peeping toms.

The history of Reality TV can be traced back to the 1950s when Allen Funt’s television show Candid Camera, which debuted in 1953, pulled pranks on unsuspecting ordinary people and showed their reactions. It has been called the ‘Grand daddy of the reality TV genre’. Then, there was the PBS series, An American Family in 1973. The series dealt with a nuclear family going through a divorce. Its counterpart programmes in the UK and Australia attracted their share of controversies. Reality television as it is currently understood, though can be traced directly to several television shows that began in the late 1980s and 1990s. COPS, which first aired in 1989, showed police officers on duty apprehending criminals; it introduced the professional video camera look. MTV’s The Real World, which began in 1992, originated the concept of putting strangers together in the same environment for an extended period of time and recording the drama that ensued. The Swedish TV show Expedition Robinson, which first aired in 1997, added to the real world template the idea of competition, in which cast members or contestants battled against each other and were removed from the show until only one winner remained.

Reality shows in India, most of them being adaptations of the pre-existing western versions, date back to Channel V’s talent hunt for the making of a musical band. The band of girls called Viva that emerged from this show enjoyed short-lived popularity but marked the beginning of reality shows in India. Kaun Banega Crorepati, anchored by Amitabh Bachchan, was a major success. More popular reality shows on Indian television include: MTV Bakra, Indian Idol, Sa Re Ga Ma, The Great Indian Laughter Challenge, Naach Baliye and Jhalak Dikhla Ja, among others.

Although all the reality shows intrinsically run on the same path — portrayal of people in unscripted real-life situations — over the years, various types of formats have emerged. To name a few — Celeb-reality: reality shows with celebrities; Prank-reality: shows that involve pranks played on ordinary people and capturing their candid reaction; Game shows: shows that are based on games; Talent hunts: shows that are looking for talented people, be it singers, dancers or even actors; Job hunts: shows that are synonymous with live-on-air interviews are listed under this category; Makeovers: shows with makeover stories. Be it a personal makeover or a home makeover, these shows are very popular with the audience; Dating shows: shows that gave a platform for dating men and women on air; Social experiments: a relatively new genre of reality television that involves interaction of distinct social groups; Adventure/Fear-based shows: a genre that challenges the participants with difficult and weird tasks; Reality playoffs: here contestants compete for prizes, while often living together in close quarters. Usually, they feature the elimination of contestants until a winner is chosen (example: Big Boss).

It is this diversity within one particular genre that has thrown open to the broadcasters ample opportunity to try different formats. It’s a case of genres within a genre. It just multiplies like a chain reaction. And the producers and the television channels fully realizing this advantage have started playing it to the gallery. They would stop at nothing to enhance their viewer rating. They have started scripting carefully allowing the celebrity or participants to know about the script before hand. And the viewers on their part, immersed in voyeuristic delight lap up everything that come on their way. But when it begins to hurt their sensibilities they cry foul. And that’s exactly what happened with shows like Rakhi Ka Swayamvar and Saach Ka Saamna.

Rakhi Ka Swayamvar began on a promising note with an impressive format. The protagonist the producers chose was the bete noire of the Indian middle class. Rakhi Sawant is a classic example of the fact that stars also can be born out of nothing. One of the most hypocritical personalities to have happened to the Indian glamour world, the item girl was supposed to have chosen her groom out of sixteen deserving and successful Indian males. But as the serial progressed, it was soon realized that most of the contestants had come to the show not to marry Rakhi but to get publicity. The show ended in a damp squib when the groom whom Rakhi chose, announced that he wanted some more time to actually marry since he had so far seen Rakhi in make-up for shooting schedules and not in reality. The host of the show Ram Kapoor bade adieu to the audience by promising them that whenever Rakhi and Elesh Parujanwala, an NRI businessman tie the knot their channel would be the first to take the proceedings to their drawing rooms. This show was a tight slap on the face of the viewers who were led to the belief of a real traditional Indian swayamvar. It was like any other Indian make-believe commercial movie. It was fake — a bogus reality show. However, the show fetched the channel NDTV Imagine a stupendous TRP rating.

Not to be left alone in the race, Star Plus later came up with another reality show titled, Saach Ka Saamna, an Indianized version of the American TV show Moment of Truth. Here, contestants are asked 50 questions which probe into their personal histories, the answers to which are immediately verified by a polygraph test ruling out any scope for a lie. Thereafter, the contestants are bought to the hot seat and asked 21 questions out of the 50 already asked and tested. They are given a chance to change their answers. If he speaks the 21 truths and doesn’t lie then he gets Rs 1 crore. An interesting format indeed. What, however, is not interesting are the questions. Most of these questions are based on sex. As if, the deepest moment of your personal life are sexual matters, not anything else. Some examples: (to a lady) When you have an intercourse with your husband, do you fancy any other male? (to a gentleman) Did you have sex with your sister-in-law? (to another gentleman) Did you ever sleep with a girl younger than your daughter?

The worst part is that these questions are asked in front of their closest family members — all present in the studio floor. What on earth is this? The idea of discussing intimate personal details in public is completely new to Indians. Ours is not a Cigar smoking Yankee culture. We don’t pat out elder’s back and say: “Howdy! How u doin’?” In the same panel discussion in a national TV channel, as we had mentioned earlier, a psychologist when told about those questions went on saying: “Ours is a society in transition. We are opening up. It’s alright.”

When you talk of India opening up, which India are you talking about? There are many Indias — predominantly the urban India and the rural India. These metropolitan western copycats never make an effort to understand the serenity of a joint family life. They don’t understand the exhilaration of enjoying a television show together as a family. Asking people to switch off their TVs if they don’t like any programme, is easier said than done. Wars are fought within the family to take command over the TV remote and you are asking to switch the TV off. That’s a highly impractical solution to the bogus reality virus.

Perhaps India is the only country in the world which has no regulation on broadcasters like it has for films through Central Board of Film Certification. However, it has advertising and programme codes. Rule 6 of the programme and advertising codes prescribed under the Cable TV Network Rules, 1994 states, among others, that no programme should be carried out in cable service which — a) offends against good tastes of decencies; b) contains anything obscene, defamatory, deliberate, false and suggestive innuendos and half truths; c) is not suitable for unrestricted public exhibition. These codes are good enough for broadcasters to draw the line. But in the absence of a regulatory body nobody is listening.

There is no denying that reality shows are here to stay. At present, they are in a nascent stage and mostly includes desi versions of reality shows abroad. But the content producers need to look at more home-grown formats. Statistics show that home-grown formats such as Sa Re Ga Ma Pa and The Great Indian Laughter Challenge have performed consistently even in the second season. Besides these formats always cater to the tastes, culture, ethos of their countrymen. Blatant plagiarizing of Western counterparts is doing the damage. Careful scrutiny and meticulous content writing have become indispensable. Increasing trend towards planned scripting of these shows to deceive and shock the viewers also has to be discouraged and monitored. There is an urgent need for a regulatory body since the television sector is growing explosively. We are definitely asking for control. After all, it’s a matter of family life. Sooner we do it, the better.

Santanava Hazarika