Thursday, June 28, 2007

The Indian Ideal

Every weekend dinner time is a conquest between my sister and my grandmother as to who wins the t.v remote to watch the most awaited talent hunt shows- indian idol-3 or sa re ga ma pa challenge 2007. Mom turns out 2 be the virtual winner as she settles for any.. and the sufferers being me and poor brother. Everything has a price 2 pay for.. and this is the price we pay for having a not so peaceful dinner with my family(:P)
The Indian entertainment television is getting sillier each day.. not that it was any good.. but with K-serials and with not so real reality shows to vouch on for their TRPS.. it couldnt have been better.
Leaving alone the K-serials, over exhausted and never ending debate topic..lets see what the reality shows have 2 offer- the latest trend on the hindi television.
Indian Idol-3 is a sad saga with contestants singing not even close 2 whom we can refer as an idol and judges like anu mallick and alisha chinoy who are over hyped and over paid to over-talk and keep up the popularity of the show. They say we are looking for a performer , "a star"!!
but wher does the star vanish after winning the hyundai accent ,the sponsered album and the 1,00,00,000 price money. Are Mr. indian idol 1/2 still singing in their bathrooms..and running to studios for work? and if he was that good.. then why does he lack work??
But ther are still lakhs watchin it intently, voting fervently for the best and rubbing their hands in glee and sheding buckets watchin their favourite contestants being ruled out..
you wont believe ther are people who have blogs dedicated to trackin these shows with 100% efficiency and rubbish information! kudos to them.. but get a life man!
Its not over yet.. recently in the daily news papers my eye caught an article which said ther are agencies which charge you and vote for whichever dude you want and as many times you say!
Common.. how can I be so mean.. and think of my interest! If ten more seasons dun come out.. so many people will be without a job.. and we cant afford that in our country can we!
this is jus about one channel.If this show is making money and having sky-scraping TRPs... its a sin for other channels to stay away and do something different. Its foolishness not to copy the same program in a sightly modified format.. and let it go on air as soon as possible.
On account of that there are two more singing talent hunt shows broadcasted at the same time and days. Now this a real competetion!!! not for the best singer but for the best show and the maximum popularity and viewer ratings.
The zee tv's ace and dignified show sa re ga ma.. has been turned into sa re ga ma pa challenge 2007.. which is again a talent hunt called "vishwayudh".. (what in the world did they think and name it that.. wht the .. it sounds like anythin but a singing competition) I guess its called that because they say it includes partcipants from not only india but also from the world.Didnt I jus see most of the NRI’s from Pakistan.. (shrug)
With 'gurus'- himesh reshammiya ,vishal shekhar and bappi lahiri.. its a complete inspiration from the mahabharat.. involving terms and rounds like- agnipariksha, brahmastra, mahaguru, yodhha.. but not even remotely as intersting as that was!The judges built tension and drama by passing cliche' and snide comments on the singers ,their fellow comrades plus the sobbing and mourning of the contestants fills it all. Once quoted by himesh reshammiya in the dharmendra style “mujhe tere ghar me struggling nahi roti chahiye..” Phew!! Cut the crap!
That’s all the terrified soul needed for inspiration.. thanks himesh .
I must put it that all of it also not drama and made up... some singers are amongst the best talents we have( jojo and chang being my sister’s favourites ;)).. but to listen to a 2 min melody you have to go through 60 seconds of melancholy and torture which includes the prologue, the comments, the ashirvad..blah!
On the same league is the show "voice of india " on star-plus, trust me couldnt have been worse. Sounds like it’s a hunt for a parliament speaker or debate on political issues on ndtv. But its quite different you know!
Singing songs from most of the nasal god’s movies you have to see it for yourself to experience the trauma. The one thing good about the show is the anchor-shaan(real good singer).. but why does he switch channels and act like a loser host on a stupid show like that! quit it !
crores of money are being spent for paying judges, on the flamboyant sets, the designer dresses, costly anchors , humungous publicity and best of packeging.. i wish if money could be spent to buy good creative heads and different ideas.
everything which starts as a rage and like a never-before hit soon falls into the category of mediocrity beacuse of the excessive repetation and their lately-ending and soon-starting-again seasons.
as the trend goes on from aeons , since it promises to be no different next on the line must be a show like, “idol of the indian idol”, “ singer big brother”, “ singer of all channels” or maybe “singer banega crorepati”!
I have a better idea.. we could just stretch “voice of india” to preliminary rounds like “voice of nagaland”, voice of bihar”, so that the show could atleast go on for 2 years ..
sick, lame, and extremely hopeless-its fit for the jobless and the ideal.
Bring it on man!!!! Im too jobless and ready for the challenge on the dinner table..my expectations couldn’t have been higher.


God please bless the hindi- entertainment channels!!

9 comments:

Rachit Chandra said...

The saddest part is the fact that most of the gullible viewers believe that all the cat fights between the leading names in the industry (read Javed Akhtar, Anu Mallick etc etc) are for real!

Maybe they love to fight but anyone can easily see that they are staged!

All I watch these days is NDTV 24X7 and the good ol' Tom and Jerry. Trust me there's nothing like Jerry's antics.

divya said...

so true..! would be nothin like if the indian audience understood that.. its so chiche'
and wht can beat tom and jerry!

Sap said...

theres no choice, you bet! these talent hunts work coz they come as a break from the saas-bahu soaps.

what amazes me is, our indian channels copy programs from the american tv: be it mastermind india, indian idol, the big brother, who dares wins, so many! i think indian tv needs some ideas: fresh and new!

till, F.R.I.E.N.D.S. at ZEE cafe is fine for me!

Vineet Pandey said...

Hmmm...
I bumped into it one night, and well, twas far better than k-soaps. The singers were just amazing, I mean I really liked listening to them.

Oh n Is every1 bored of Takeshi's Castle or wat ?

Rishabh Kaul said...

At thins point might I suggest The Great Khali

Unknown said...

@sap: i knw.. cant help that..
F.R.I.E.N.D.S is just briliant.. after watchin so many other tv serials. scrubs, the oc.. prison break. friends is still my fav..
@vinet: ya as i said..the singers are not bad man. but more than their singing its the other irrelevent stuff which goes on.. tht bugs me..

Anonymous said...

I personally think Indian talent shows, especially the musical ones rot to the core. heard Indian Idol #1's new single. The chorus goes..
junoon, junoon, junoon,junoon,junoon,junoon,junoon,junoon,junoon,junoon,junoon chal raha hai.
ya rite...my 2 year old cousin can write better lyrics. check out my thoughts on this scenario at http://rockforanewday.blogspot.com/2007/06/finally-pure-rock-from-talent-show.html

Amateur Poet said...

they produce (and produce more) only coz there are always people to watch and boost their TRP's.

Anonymous said...

Good one on the indian ideal and it helps a lot.

Thanks,
Karim - Positive thinking