The reality bug has bitten Indian Television hard with a multitude of reality shows hitting the small screen which have all paved their way into the hearts of the Indian audience. Recently, the reality scene has witnessed a drastic change. Reality TV no longer wants to make celebrities, it wants them ready made.
The success of reality TV in India has come as a big surprise to many for India was a country which was considered as an "entertainment escapist." But with the outstanding success of reality shows, it is clear that reality TV is rapidly gaining acceptance of the Indian audience and is here to stay.
The success of reality TV in India has come as a big surprise to many for India was a country which was considered as an "entertainment escapist." But with the outstanding success of reality shows, it is clear that reality TV is rapidly gaining acceptance of the Indian audience and is here to stay.
Launched on November the 3rd in 2006, Bigg Boss is Sony TV’s answer to the ever popular Big Brother created by Endemol. Endemol is an international company having extensions in other countries such as the UK, Australia and the Netherlands. It decided to expand to India and collaborated with Sony to bring Bigg Boss to India. The Indian version of the universally acclaimed Big Brother which took India by storm was hosted by Arshad Warsi. Celebrity Bigg Boss signed up to fifteen "semi retired and not so famous" celebrities for the show; Rakhi Sawant, Kashmera Shah, Rahul Roy, Carol Gracias, Deepak Tijori, Rupali Ganguly, Bobby Darling, Anupama Verma, Arayan Vaid, Amit Sadh, Deepak Parashar, Salil Ankola, Baba Segal, Ragini Shetty and Ravi Kisshen. All the participants were chosen from different backgrounds which led to a cultural synthesis.
The celebrities were locked into a house for a period of hundred days under the surveillance of 30 cameras. Like the UK series, the celebrities had no contact with the outside world. While the UK and the U.S versions of Big Brother have been quite loud and "uncensored", Bigg Boss was a much toned down version. Unlike the Uk version where there were cameras were placed in the bathroom there were no cameras in the bathroom in the Indian version.
Bigg Boss, the disembodied voice, played the role of an all powerful God-like entity who ruled the lives the fifteen ‘hand-picked’ celebrities. Bigg Boss made them do things in the form of tasks which showed the audience a side in the celebrities which they had never seen till date. Bigg Boss claimed that it showed drama "live" as it happened. Occasionally well-known celebrities from Bollywood such as John Abraham dropped in at Bigg Boss’s ‘command’ to add to the already excitement in the house.
The celebrities were housed on the outskirts of Mumbai where the cameras captured their every move to ensure that the celebrities did not have any privacy ( except for the bathrooms). The celebrities had to ‘fend for themselves’ by which it meant that the celebrities had to do basic things such as cook, clean, and sweep themselves. Once inside the house the housemates could not leave until they were evicted. Bigg Boss gave the celebrities daily tasks through which they earned their weekly budget. The group used the budget to buy food items to survive in the house. Each housemate nominated two celebrities for eviction from the house (no one could nominate themselves). Bigg Boss chose the celebrities with the maximum number of nominations to be put for public vote (the ultimate decision for eviction of inmates lay in the hands of the public).
In order to gain viewer ship celebrities are needed, even if they are not exactly ‘A’ list or at the top-rung of this charmed circles. The producers selected celebrities who were not so ‘popular’. Moreover the show had just made its debut entry into the market and most of the celebrities were not sure of its ‘audience appeal.’ Most of the top stars of the industry had prior commitments and were also unwilling to air their private lives on national television. For example, Riya Sen declined Sony’s offer for the show. There was also a monetary issue because the producers had to work within the constraints of their pre-assigned budget. The selection process was also based on the character profile of each individual. Each of them was different from the other and this resulted in the creation of a dynamic on-screen chemistry.
The reality show tries to be as close to reality as possible and in their effort they tend to counterfeit the truth. The on-screen drams in the Bigg Boss’s house can con anyone who wants to add some ‘zing’ in their monotonous lives. But on closer scrutiny one would realize that one is wasting time and money on celebrities who are the ones who ultimately get all the fame and the money. With Sony reality shows are fast becoming a permanent fixture in their programming. But are the reality shows real or are they staged? Bigg Boss certainly seems to be more of a staged drama rather than a reality show.
What you see on Bigg Boss is "laundered reality." Because they’re showing you only a glimpse; one hour, that has been carefully picked out of their 24-hour footage, they can show you only what they want to. They can make a character look very good or very bad with some clever editing.
For example; it so happened that at the start of one episode, Sony showed the once evicted sultry Kashmera Shah being smuggled back into the house while all the occupants are blissfully unaware as they are asleep. The first thing that she does is to steal ginger which Ravi Kisshen likes in his tea. And what does everyone including Ravi Kissen talk of the exact same morning? Ginger in tea, of course! He speaks of how he would like a steamy ginger waali chai or words to that effect. What a co-incidence! This kind of drama that is shown itself puts doubts over the authenticity of the show.
Taking another example, its unexplainable how suspicion rose against the identity of the infiltrator when the celebrities were supposedly completely out of contact with the outside world.
The show was broadcasted during the prime-time slot from 9.00 p.m. to 10.00 p.m. This specific time was selected because it guaranteed maximum audience viewer-ship. The show was targeted at the urban section of the society as the voting was conducted strictly through the SMS polling. The voice of Bigg Boss was never identified because the voice symbolized the audience themselves. Just as the voice was anonymous, yet powerful so was the audience because though they too were anonymous, they played a major role in determining the course of the show. Every Friday the voting lines were opened and the viewers voted to remove the celebrity they liked the least from the house.
Today the focus of reality shows has shifted from aspiration to voyeurism. Voyeurism is a quality that is inbuilt in the human psyche. Every human has he tendency to peer into the live of those around them and even more so in to the lives of celebrities which has an unattainable quality. Therefore the concept of watching the every day life of celebrities is extremely alluring. However it is paradoxical that though the general public on one hand themselves place celebrities on a pedestal, on the other hand they want the celebrities to be on the same level as them. This is precisely why the show enthralled the audience with its unadulterated drama, raw emotions, genuine laughter and much more.
Sandeep Sickcand, Chief Creative Director, Sony explains in one of his interviews the guiding philosophy behind the ‘Big Boss.’ He said "We all have peeping Tom’s inside us and we are all voyeuristic. So we are all basically playing with that one quality that we have."
Even the logo of the show was depicted by an eye which clearly represented its voyeuristic nature that the producers wanted to portray.
The media propaganda played a large role in promoting the success of the show. During the three months that Bigg Boss televised most of the forms of media; from television to print, advertised the highlights of the show. Sony collaborated with the news channel Aaj Tak which exclusive footage of the show. Zee news conducted special interviews.
CNN-IBN reported that the romance between Anupama Verma and Aryan Vaid was for real and they even conducted an exclusive interview on the issue.
Times Now reported that interestingly, when the average Indian was probed on their preference between asprational reality shows, which made celebrities out of commoners or the peeping Tom variety, which make the somewhat known face into very known face, they got reactions from viewers favoring celeb quotient. Most of the viewers were quite candid that the celebrity ‘hook; works but what works more is just good entertainment!
Newspapers like Indian Express, DNA and Mumbai Mirror constantly kept the public’s interest in the show alive by printing articles on a regular basis. The hype behind Bigg Boss was so intense that other news got sidelined in order to create space for articles on the show.
Bigg Biss has its own internet website called www.bigboss.in . This website has information about the celebrities; it has special unedited video footage, news articles, clipping, blogs, reviews and many additional features. Besides having its own website there are more sites which give information on Bigg Boss.
The promo of Bigg Boss was equally captivating as the show itself. The curiosity of the people was aroused due to the suspense created by the promos. A month prior to its release the promo began titillating the audience by its sudden appearance during commercials; the screen would blank, then an eye accompanied by a buzzing would appear and without any explanation the promo would end.
The advertisers came up with innovative idea where instead of making a separate commercial for a product they advertised they directly in the show. By far Big Boss is the only reality show which has the potential of advertising most of the products which used in day to day life.
The advertisers got a bonus share of the publicity as theirs products were not only viewed during the commercials but were aired during the show as well. The products played a crucial utlitraian function within the show, for instance celebrities washing clothes with Ariel detergent, dishes with Pril dishwasher, using toiletries from Garnier and Neutrogena, food products from Chings, Horlicks, Kraft foods etc. Other articles like soaps, shaving cream, tea-coffee, cosmetics, grocery, towels, bed sheets and even articles like clothes were advertised. This innovation reduces viewer’s boredom by watching commercials of products. Not only this, the program and channel viewrship will increase due to minimum advertisement breaks.
TRP’s decide and define the popularity of a TV channel. The view ship for a TV program will bring in more sponsors and advertisements for it and hence more revenue. Everything and anything is implemented by the serial makers to bag the best of TRP’s for the commercial benefits. But, the times have changed as reality TV shows are the latest tools in the hands of the TV gurus to play with the emotions of the viewers.
The Indian audiences are readily accepting the concept of reality television as seen by the success of shows such as Indian Idol, MTV’s roadies and Fame X. These shows are frequently accused of fixations and planned conflicts among the contenders. One would accept that nothing has been confirmed about the drama on the sets but one tend to believe after a period of time that it’s all for the business of making more money via the emotional saga and higher TRP ratings for a reality show.
Besides getting money from the show itself as well as from the advertisers, the producers also made crores of rupees through the subscribed dialers of Airtel, MTNL and BSNL. This huge sum was equally shared between the channel and the telecom partners so it benefited both parties.
The reality show has a wide impact on the celebrities, producer, advertisers as well as audiences. The show was a boon for each of them; celebrities gained fame, money and lucrative contracts which would have otherwise eluded them, they also managed to revive their fading careers; the producers managed to recover the money that they invested and acquire viewer ship; the advertisers got extra publicity for their goods and the audience got the entertainment they desired.
