The sight of the young and talented Sinjini Sengupta lying motionless at NIMHANS,

Bangalore, has raised many questions in our minds, not only regarding the necessity
and mode of handling of reality shows but also the role of enthusiastic and
overzealous parents goading their children towards stardom. The allegation, leveled
by the parents of this high school student, is that she became partially paralyzed
due to depression on being humiliated by judges at a reality show. Let us not debate
as to whether the allegations are true or not but ask ourselves certain important
questions –

Are we in India today actually ready for such physically and psychologically
demanding shows?

Are youngsters not being forced to jump into the race for stardom prematurely?

Is it not time that we actually pause and think of the efficacy and utility of such
shows?

To understand the actual nature and usefulness/utility of these shows we first need
to know what a reality show actually is.

Reality television is a genre of television programming, which presents purportedly

unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events and mostly
features ordinary people. Participants are often put in exotic or abnormal situations,
coached in certain ways by off screen handlers. Events that are presented on screen
are manipulated through editing and other postproduction techniques. These
programmes not only promise big money but also overnight stardom. Hoards of
youngsters are drawn to these shows. The portrayal of such unscripted situations
actually began1940s in the U.S.A. “Allen Funt’s Candid Camera” considered to be
the “Grand Daddy of Reality TV Genre” debuted in 1948. In the years that followed
popular shows like Beat The Clock, Miss America, Big Brother, Border Security,
Motorway Patrol etc. were televised from different parts of the world.

In India the concept is relatively new. It has taken the country by storm as reality
television has the potential to turn its participants into national celebrities, at least
for a short period. However, in return for such stardom contestants have to often
undergo tremendous psychological stress when they are admonished and
humiliated for not performing well. Some critics have claimed that the success of
reality shows is due to its ability to provide ‘schadenfreude’ (i.e. enjoyment taken
from the misfortune of someone else), by satisfying the desire of viewers to see
others humiliated. Moreover, the outcome of these shows mostly depends on
audience poll. Voting often in a country as vast and varied as India is influenced by
religious and regional considerations. Consequently often the deserving are
eliminated. Moreover, as reality show participant Arpita Mukherjee has
claimed,”Audience vote is an ambiguous system as most of the competitors who are
not talented win music talent hunt reality shows…………not a transparent process.”
Personal biases amongst teachers and judges in talent hunt shows cannot be ruled
out.

Such shows have already started taking their toll. Viewers have witnessed
participants, crying inconsolably and collapsing on the sets, judges bickering among
themselves and abandoning shows, hysterical families complaining about decisions.
The most to suffer are young children who, unaware of the ways of the world join
the race. Renuka Chowdhury, Union minister for woman and child development has
rightly commented, “The reality shows are operating in an unregulated market. We
want to bring in regulations so that the children get better conditions for working.”
She has even spoken of introducing code of conduct for judges. We hope adequate
measures are taken and some control is exercised over these shows in order to
provide wholesome entertainment. Parents should allow their children to grow up
normally and happily and prepare them adequately for the real world, which they
will eventually have to face.