Sa Re Ga Ma Pa – Lil Champs, Fear Files, Dance India Dance – A Look At How Reality Shows Changed The Face Of Small Screen

Reality shows are foraying into regional channels in local languages too.

There is a saying, “Truth is stranger than fiction.” Yes, real life is far more interesting and bizarre than one could possibly imagine. This is perhaps what has led to the growing popularity of reality shows on Indian television. The most interesting fact is the gradual shift of interest in viewership, from watching heavily decked up women in Saas-Bahu sagas, towards watching regular people on-screen, who could very well be our next-door neighbours. As one serial after another unfolded on screen, people are getting tired of the monotonous storylines, where women compete to be the ‘perfect’ housewife, or where someone has been reincarnated with the same face, or where serials take leaps of ten years, only to reveal that the protagonists did not age a single day.

Stars Shining Bright: Sourcing the Untapped Talent Potential of India

Perhaps the greatest gift the generations today have, which was hardly a case in the previous century, is the number of opportunities available to showcase their talent. Reality TV is providing huge platforms for people throughout the country to achieve fame. Some of them are proving to be shortcuts to Bollywood itself or the entertainment industry. 1995 saw the introduction of one of the most popular shows on television, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa. Hosted then by a much younger and shy Sonu Nigam, it has showcased through the years, some of the most outstanding singing talents across the country, with stalwarts from the music industry acting as judges. The show recently concluded its newest avatar,Sa Re Ga Ma Pa –Lil Champs, in November 2017. It received the highest TRP ratings from BARC India, among all its contemporary reality shows.

Dance India Dance launched in 2009 on Zee TV, is currently in its sixth season on the channel. The show has made a huge contribution to changing the country’s perspective towards dance, which was earlier limited to only classical forms. Dance India Dance or DID, as it is popularly called, has produced some of the best dancers in the movies today, with names like Shakti Mohan and Dharmesh Yelende in the foreground. In 2012, it achieved a listing on the Guinness World Records, for the largest Bollywood dance with 4,428 people dancing simultaneously, on the grounds of KJ Somaiya, Mumbai. The USP of the show, however, is the presence of Mithun Chakravarti, who himself is considered a legend due to his dancing prowess. The major reason for the popularity of these shows is perhaps the fact that viewers see their own people or people with similar backgrounds participating and winning accolades.

Reality TV: Not Limited To Music and Dance

Reality TV shows have not restricted themselves only to the music and dance scene. They cater to a diverse range of viewers. Some of these shows depict real-life crime stories, in an attempt to educate the masses about the various kinds of anti-social elements present in our society, and ways in which they can be tackled with. The shift in viewership is again plainly evident. In earlier times, people were more interested in watching crime dramas, such as Byomkesh or Karamchand on the small screen. Today, now the focus is on actual crime stories, in a bid to perhaps to caution people regarding crime in India, particularly crime against women. Fear Files on Zee TV currently holds the 5th position among all reality TV shows, as of December 2017.

Reality TV Shows on Regional Channels

Reality shows are foraying into regional channels in local languages too, gaining country-wide acceptance. Many show formats from the Hindi channels are being adapted in regional languages to cater to vast audiences. Hence, shows like Dance Karnataka Dance – Family War are surging high on the popularity charts.

We live in times where viewers prefer to see even their favourite stars in their ‘drawing room’ avatars. As the small screen always a depiction of social agendas and concerns of the audience, it will forever keep changing to match with the Indian ethos of the times. This is something reality TV has done brilliantly till now.