Reality Shows: Is Drama Happens?

 

 
Reality television is a genre of television programming that     presents purportedly unscripted dramatic, entertaining or humorous situations, documents real events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors. Reality television often portrays a modified and highly influenced form of reality, utilizing sensationalism to attract viewers to generate advertising profits. Participants are often placed in exotic locations or abnormal situations, and are sometimes coached, to act in certain scripted ways by off-screen “story editors” or “segment producers,” with the portrayal of events and speech manipulated and contrived to create an illusion of reality through editing and other post-production techniques. . However, the desire to gain maximum viewer ship has led to the entry of well-known television and film personalities into the reality television.
There are two things about reality shows that attract viewers and generate controversy: the concept of reality or realism; and the shock effect. The concept of reality TV draws from realism (the art cinema movement) in cinema. So, it’s a format that presents ordinary people in live, supposedly unscripted (though often deliberately manufactured) situations, and monitors or judges their emotions, behaviour or talent. Such formats usually invoke competition and offer big money as rewards.
The idea of reality television programs is not new on Indian television. Meri Awaz Suno, Sa Re Ga Ma and Kaun Banega Cororepati are some of the programs which caught the imagination of whole of the nation. But recently, with rising competition in recent months, non-fiction-based programs have made a stunning comeback, albeit in a new avatar—titillating reality programming. After an overdose of saas-bahu (daughter-in-law-mother-in-law) soaps, the producers and also the audience seem to be happy lapping up more realistic soaps (fiction) and reality (non-fiction) programs.
Types of Reality Shows:
· Celeb-Reality: Reality shows with celebrities are a rage with the audience. Examples: Big Boss
· Prank-Reality: Reality shows that involve pranks played on ordinary people and capturing their candid reaction. Examples: MTV Bakra
 · Game Shows: Reality shows that are based on games. Examples: Kaun Banega Crorepati, Kamzor Kadi Kaun
 · Talent Hunts: Reality shows that are looking for talented people be it singers, dancers or even actors. Example: Indian Idol, Little Champs.
 · Job-hunts: Shows that are synonymous with live on air interviews are listed under this category. Example: Business Bazigar.
· Makeovers: Reality shows with make over stories. Be it a personal makeover or a home make over, these shows are very popular with the audience. Example: Pati Patni or Woh
 · Dating-Shows: Reality shows that gave a platform for dating men and women on air. Example: Splitsvilla.
· Adventure/Fear based shows: A genre of TV shows that challenges the participants with difficult and weird tasks. Example: Iss Jungle Se Mujhe Bachao.
 However, the shock factor of these programs is proving to be its nemesis as well. Recently, the issue of reality television echoed in the parliament. Some politicians raised this in Parliament, bringing to the fore issues such as content regulation and morality. Unfortunately, most politicians seem to get tangled in moral issues when it comes to content. A petition was moved in the Delhi High Court against the content of the shows. Court felt that the petition was more of a ‘moral policing’ and dismissed the petition against the show.
Producers and liberals say there is nothing wrong with such reality programs and that realism on TV screens is merely holding up a mirror to happenings in society. Extremes coexist in India and it’s difficult to answer if television does indeed mirror reality. Still, it is clear that the mirror is selective in its distortions because of economic pressures. Whether its reality or any other genre of programming, the tendency to sensationalize and even misuse is a commercial exigency in television. But this is only one part of the story. We all know that a business is run by profit motive and business of entertainment is no different. In order to increase TRP of the program, the producer overdoses the theme of shocking the audiences. This is of course one wonderful way to break through the clutter. The result: reality shows are becoming more and more provocative and outrageous. But the end result is often not very desirable. This becomes like washing one’s dirty linen in public (prime time).
But content is not the only issue that has raised the eye brows. There are people who claim that in order to boost TRPs, the program producers toy with the script of reality. According to a poll by CNN, 57% of the people interviewed believe that Reality TV shows provide a distorted picture of events while another 23% say the shows are “totally phony”. The amount of pressure for TV ratings pushes people to make the show more interesting.
Another dark side to these reality shows is the sharp comments and criticism received from the judges. Many contestants lose their confidence when they are subjected to harsh comments. In one of the past incidents, Shinjini Sengupta of Kolkata lost her ability to speak and move after she was shown the door in the elimination round of a reality show. The voting system through SMS has its own pitfalls. Many good singers do not win due to the voting system as people vote on the basis of regions. The viewers prefer that a contestant of their state should win. (It became an issue during the voting for the Indian Idol show) In this case, talent takes a back seat. Reality shows seem to be the new age entertainment recipe. They might be selling controversies or cashing upon peoples emotion; but at the end of the day, they are the most poplar shows with the highest TRPs.
 But, the most serious allegation against the reality shows is that they are in no way related to reality. Most of the situations and emotions are tempered. The producers of the show create controversies during the shows to lure the viewer. This is done to gain maximum TRP and hence, maximum revenue. This questions the entire concept of the reality shows.
Clearly, reality television is another attempt to test all boundaries of entertainment and tolerance. Without clear guidelines and no regulation or accountability in the broadcasting sector, the tendency of producers and broadcasters to push the envelope is obvious. Taking forward the Parliament discussion, as suggested by eminent director Shyam Benegal, we need an independent broadcast regulator in place at the earliest to look into these contentious issues. Irrespective of this ongoing debate, television is an all-pervasive popular medium that does play a critical role in our society. Television is a reality in our country and we have to learn to live with it ( Such Ka Saamna).

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