The Road of "Roadies"

On my vacation in India I finally caught up with the Roadies 8 auditions …

Roadies is this MTV reality show for which surprisingly, I have pretty high regards. It has a lot of drama and to a very large extend it is unpredictable. The fun unfolds from the selection of the participants itself. The well-scripted-and-dramatized, insult-laced, interviewer-ego-booster, pretense-of-no-nonsense but actually overdose-of-nonsense questions, lately creeping moral-high-ground makes it a lot of fun.

The actual show is a little more tacky as tasks are far between the drama built by personal lives of the participants. They are often given fake personalities to increase TRP. But imagination still reigns supreme in this no-format reality show.

But the show is good till you do not think about the participants as people, young impressionable people whose life is yet to unfold in front of them. The music and dance reality shows are built on some inherent talent of the participants; Show like big boss and wipeout take participants with known-faces but roadies take non-known young participants standing on the verge of life.

A few after the participation make it as the hosts of the show itself, some make it to other reality shows but what about many others who expose themselves on camera. After the show milk them for TRP how they must be returning to normal lives after loosing the crucial career building years…. I cant forget the fat gujju guy from an old season who was carved out to be a total-loser, it was great to laugh at him on his presence in the show but what happens when he return back to his life...

I remember how I was a panicked twenty-year old. The only career I came to know of was that of a doctor, but despite my mighty efforts I could not get through Pre Medical Test required for admission in Medical colleges across India. So without a clear career-path I was petrified that college will end soon without me having a means to earn my livelihood.

I cannot, by any stretch of imagination, vision myself at that age having a few strands of colored hair and tattoos and attempting a Roadies Audition; perceiving this reality show to be an all-important, life-transforming event; standing in queues, doing fake group discussions and braving being disgraced on national television before and after the selection for something as temporary as a season of reality show which according to me is neither that cool nor that permanent to be this desirable…

Of coarse, they say now a generation gap is created every three years and by this definition I am really far away from today’s twenty-year-olds. Yet, with competition increasing in leaps and bounds, standing in queues for Roadies audition and not admissions in college or competitive exams is in-perceivable even when the show is this entertaining; may be its because the entertainment factor of the show is at the cost of its participants...

The Un-reality Show

There was an era of Saas-Bahu serials. Today even though they exist, the limelight today is on reality shows and talent hunts. Indian Idol, Sa re ga ma pa, Star Voice of India, Jhoom India, Jhalak Dikhlaja, Nach Baliye… the list is endless.
At times the participants are celebrities and at times common people. High drama along with finely tailored singing & dancing ensures high TRP rating. This drama comes from participants and judges. Participants cry, laugh and share their aspiration and at times even their family problems to win more support; to add drama while judges fight with each other while favoring a participant and at times questioning their ability. The show conductor is the most neutral.
But the highlight is using SMS to decide the winners. This ensures great profits both to the service provider and the channel. Sympathy and support of participants and popularity of the celebrity’s participants used to ensure high inflow of these.
The judges fight and grumble over decision of the public taken by these SMS, ensuring more drama, more polarization of sentiments and hence more votes.
So in this new avatar of the Indian Television, the audience pays out of their pockets more directly. :)