Its quite hard for me to actually sit in front of the television for long. The constant commercial breaks make it hard to fix interest in any program. But every now and then when I have nothing better to do, I do sit staring at the TV in the hope of finding something interesting to watch. I wouldn’t make any fans when I say that I sometimes do watch reality shows. I have myself criticized the reality shows running nowadays because they are so overly melodramatic and manipulate the viewers’ emotions to gain higher TRPs. Channels have managed to make reality shows just out of everything. Right from the simple concept of singing competitions to marriages! Rahul Mahajan comes on TV saying, “I am the first guy for whom a bride will be chosen by whole of
But I must admit, maybe for the first time I felt that the emotions shown on such shows can be real. I happened to watch a show called Dance India Dance on Zee TV. It is quite the usual show in which talented dancers compete with each other week after week to stay in contention to become the king/queen of dance. Most of the time, participants get emotional after their performance and speak about their family. These moments are showcased in such a filmy manner that you feel as if they are artificially induced. However, this Saturday when I happened to watch one of the episodes, I was actually moved by the heart felt expressions of love and pride shown by a participant’s family. They were simple people who put their thoughts across in such a straightforward manner that everyone listening was moved.
Maybe it is because love of parents towards their children is so unadulterated that the reality show director did not feel the need to add any special effects or thundering music! A candid admission of a policeman father of how he was wrong to have criticized his son because of his interest in what he felt was a worthless activity, an expression of gratitude towards his wife who made amends for his mistake. Reality TV felt real! The mother actually managed to move everyone to tears when she said that being a policeman’s wife, she understood at a very early stage that it was she who had to make compromises and adjustments. She went on to narrate how she got her child back after almost all hopes of reviving the still born child were given up by the doctors. She said her son had made her proud today. The emotions were so natural that I felt moved.
Such scenes are very rare in reality shows dominated by artificiality in the form of the innocent bride Rakhi and victimized lady(?) Bobby darling! Those simple parents showed that if you are very emotional or passionate about something, you don’t need to put up a façade when you speak and you need not try too hard. If you feel very strongly about something and are honest about your thoughts, you will easily strike a chord with your audience!
