Off the shows launched in the last couple of weeks, Sacch Ka Saamna, the Indian version of Moment Of Truth is quite compelling. The questions are extremely personal and intrusive making the contestants and their families squirm, even you as a viewer are put on the edge. It is strictly for a mature audience. The best part of the show is Rajeev Khandelwal. As the host, he is good at putting the contestants at ease and is sensitive to the family members too. The only hitch is the lack of celebrities. Though the common man manages to interest you, celebs would have definitely got in more eyeballs.
Sony’s adaptation of I Am A Celebrity - Take Me Out Of Here, Iss Jungle Se Mujhe Bachao is undoubtedly a expensive show shot in Malaysia but coming on the heels of Bigg Boss, Sarkar Ki Duniya and Fear Factor, this jungle caper has lost on novelty value. A motley group of celebs from Shweta Tiwari, Marc Robinson, Anaida, Akashdeep Sehgal, Fiza, infamous for her marriage to a former deputy CM of Haryana to Palak, a Roadies contestant ,are trying to survive in tough conditions. Like in every reality show, the contestants bitch, gossip, fight (they had a big one over salt) evoking a déjà vu feeling. As for the tasks, those connected to creepy-crawlies are reminiscent of Fear Factor. This jungle simply doesn’t beckon. Danish Khan, Vice- President, Marketing, Sony, while agreeing that the show doesn’t have a differenting factor like a Sacch Ka Saamna, points out that the response has been “so far so good. People are liking the refreshing visuals, the greenery and the camp conditions in which the particpants are living in.”
Rakhi Ka Swayamvar has got NDTV Imagine a huge opening with a 4.12 TRP, which is a first in the one-and-a-half year old channel. Clearly, Rakhi is succeeding in turning the channel’s fortunes. One will never know whether the guys on the show are seeking publicity or are really in love with the “item” girl but Rakhi, the drama queen is in form being the coy, blushing bride-to-be, encouraging the right candidate and throwing out the extras. Like it or not, she is full-on entertainment. Says Shailaja Kejriwal, EVP, Content, NDTV Imagine, “Rakhi’s show is good for us. It has been much talked about and got us the eyeballs.”
The Colors show India’s Got Talent is interesting with the multitude of talent that you get to see on the show. Like this team of folk artistes from North-East state that left everyone spellbound with their calisthenics or the group of physically-impaired students who performed a Punjabi folk dance with perfection. The two first-time judges Kirron Kher and Shekhar Kapur add to the novelty of the show. Shekhar is very encouraging to the participants; he was even moved to tears by a particular performance. Sonali Bendre-Behl adds the glam quotient. The concept, however, is not new as we have sampled it in Sony’s Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega recently.
MTV Connected, the first-of-its-kind reality show on twins, for ones, is not vulgar or abusive like most reality shows on the channel are. In fact, it is quite funny and entertaining. The tasks, set to discover the synchronisation between 10 pairs of twins, range from choosing accessories from the same wardrobe to playing the MTV version of dumb charades, bum-charades.
It’s not as if there was no differentiating reality show earlier, there were shows like Bigg Boss, Fear Factor etc. which broke through the clutter but it is only now that broadcasters are going all out to try out novel concepts. “It’s not that viewers are moving away from song and dance, but yes broadcasters are giving a vareity of offerings because people are willing to sample it. This is true of fiction shows too,” says Kejriwal. Agrees Khan, “Since viewers are fragmented, channels will come out with new formats in the future also to bring back the audience.”
