by Ask them to quit their careers and work, dedicate the next 10-12 months on a singing or dancing competition with daily shows and they are glad to do it,without hesitation. All of this for those 60 seconds of fame.
Reality shows started off as simple game shows like a quiz contest or treasure hunts. Then the channels came up with singing and dance shows where the grand prize winner would win a house and a chance to sing with one of the leading music directors in the country. The popularity for the show’s concept grew rapidly as it was able to effectively showcase and bring natural talent into the music industry. The quality of singing from these budding singers was phenomenal and made heads turn. Some had born talent while some taught themselves to sing and really made a strong impact in the show. The dance reality shows were no different. They showcased equally good moves and a lot of them was inducted into Bollywood and Kollywood film industries too
The entertainment channels didnt stop there. They wanted more variety in the reality show and more dramatic as well. This led to a barrage of low quality shows hitting the mainstream television. One of them was a show called “Big Boss”. Contestants were basically jailed inside a house and encouraged to pick up verbal fights with each other. The winner happened to be the person who could really bring the worst in others and survive the drama.
The impact of such shows on the audience had a negative influence on their everyday lifestyle. Their tastes moved away from quality informational shows to reality shows that highlighted brainless feuds
One another show worth highlighting was “Splitvila”. The premise of the show made me question the whole concept of sanity, sanctity and the beauty of Indian television. The show’s primary goal is to split people who are in a relationship, create problems between men and women and in end crown a pair of people as king and queen. A show that tries to destroys relationships happens to be one of the most watched show in Indian television
Despite the argument that the youth have a fair level of maturity in understanding what’s right and wrong, its quite inevitable that these reality shows will definitely have a negative impact on them. Trying to skip exams to participate in such contests, giving lesser importance to classical music and concentrating on Bollywood pop songs and finally trying to imitate the verbal abuses shown in TV, are some of the negative trends that’s being observed these few years
