Kerala’s music reality shows: Real or Dramatized?

Reality Shows are the most popular Television programmes in Kerala today. The First Television Reality Show Programme in Malayalam Television history was ‘Super Star Junior’ on Amrita TV. At present, all sorts of reality shows inundate the Malayalam Television Industry. The most popular reality shows successfully running in the Malayalam channels are Idea Star Singer Season 5, Munch Star Singer Junior Season 2 and Vodafone Comedy Stars on Asianet, Gandharva Sangeetham on Kairali TV and Super Troupe on Amrita.

Though all kinds of reality shows have negotiated a huge space in the television industry, ever since their commencement, the music reality shows still surpass all other programmes in the Television Rating Point. Along with its own numerous business tactics, the most obvious amongst these is the dramatization widely prevalent in all shows of the kind. Let’s have an analysis of some top Malayalam music reality shows (not mentioning any of their obvious names) and get to know the inner core behind this fair picture.

The main reasons seemingly behind the success of a much hyped and prestigious music reality show are the illustrious judging panel, class performance of contestants and the anchoring of some anglicized native beauty. A draconian permanent jury and one what’s- happening- here looking celebrity guest, judge ‘impartially’ the performances in the programme.

All these form the entire rosy story of the reality show plus all its seasons, while a lot more remain concealed. We can count the plus points of the show as including more popular celebrity judges, quality judgment, performance etc, but the major selling factor of the show is not any of these. The audience of sentiments- crammed serials became fans of these reality shows. Why did they become its regular viewers? The answer is quite simple. They are getting the same content from these reality shows also. A high level of sentiments, overindulgence and melodrama. The elimination rounds are so packed with furious drama that the housewives and even husbands find time to weep before the television sets. The channels subtly recognize this sentimental factor in the very starting of the show and have now started to even dedicate a special sequel to this in the elimination round.

As the show catches its mounting pace, the channel starts to play all the dirty tactics to promote their own “special” participants. It is very evident that the channels are trying to hide this tainted game under the garbs of “SMS count”. When the most talented singers with the top score fail to get through, the lowest ranking contestant scales higher with his “performance” coupled with the magical SMS count. The most recent ploy devised by these channels is the final revelation of the SMS count to give more credibility to this back door mechanism. Until the whole fraud and foul play will be exposed on screen, the naïve viewers will go on buttoning the SMS “ISS Fraud”.

A die hard viewer of a top reality show puts in his words, “it gives a feeling as if the whole show is fixed to some extent. The organizers must watch out for favoritism & weed out the incompetent judges whoever it may be”

In an interview, our musical maestro, K.J.Yesudas mentioned that, “I don’t know why Asianet is taking more than a year to find the good singer-why they are stretching on like this?” The answer is simple, if it had been a hunt for searching the best singer, the show would not have been in need of this much spice and masala. The high TRP and the mammoth response of the audience population itself stands evidence to the fact as to how much the show caters to the diverse tastes of the general public. When what the people demand is a high level of drama clubbed with an inundation of sentiments and sobs, the reality shows try by all means to satisfy this surreptitious appetite of the multitudes. If the media ought to regulate itself from such exploits and excesses what is primarily needed is an in-depth cleansing of the viewers TV watching interests. If they can’t help it any more, what is urgently needed is an alteration in the term “Reality show”, enough of mockery, this brunt of shameless derision!

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