These days talents shows are at rampant. Personally I find these shows quite interesting. I have been following the Indian reality shows mostly. A few years back, when I had visited home, my sister used to talk about Abhijeet Sawant all the time. I could not understand why she was so excited. Then she suggested me to watch Fame Gurukool. It was silly that I was spending time to watch how those teen aged girls and guys would talk/act something useless in front of camera. However, I started enjoying the singing part of the shows. I also started liking the comments from the judges more. My vacation got over but I used to discuss with my sister until the show got over.
Due to popularity of Web 2.0, now we can access media content of all such reality shows on Internet. As a result, I could follow many reality shows such as SA RE GA MA PA, Great Indian Laughter Challenge, Indian Idol, Little Champs, Chhote Ustad, Indian Cricket League and recently started Jhoom India. I want to hightlight some of my observations.
Its quite encouraging to see how these shows have offered accessible platforms to middle-class and poor sections of society to showcase their talents. If you follow Chhote Ustad on Zee TV, you will find a kid named Aamir Hafiz who cannot go to school and his father is an auto-rickshaw driver. There is another girl named Vasundhara Raturi from Delhi who is blind. Although North and Western India are mostly well-represented in such shows, there are two talented girls from North-Eastern and Eastern parts of India as well. People might also remember that a few months back, there was a wave of Indian Idol fever across Darjeeling and North-Eastern India when two guys from those parts of India won to be the finalists of Indian Idol 3. So, such shows are definitely creating opportunities and jobs for many.
Until I saw Fame Gurukool, I didn't know who was Krishna Kumar Menon (or famous Kay Kay). I didn't know who composed music for DUS, Om Shanti Om until I came to know of Vishal-Shekhar Duo. Many people don't know that a song like "Aalha Ke Bande" was written by Vishal. He is same person who sang "Dhoom Again...". After watching Rubaroo of Indian Idol, I now know who choreographed dances in Dhoom 2. It is through Indian Idol guest judge Adnan Sami, I could see how to lose weight 100+ lbs in a few months. Many such tidbits (although useless information) came to my attention.
One thing which I believe holds universally is that "beauty lies in details". It sounds charming when music gurus point out the intricate details of music and songs. Another thing to note is that people like "Originality" and "Newness". This is true even in research work. Sometimes I feel politicians should be selected through such reality shows in that politicians have to compete in front of Indian population. There will be debates, eloquence, decision making tests and so on. Voting process can be made more tamper proof. Kapil Dev tried to implement the concept into cricket to certain extent. I think most of the award ceremonies should take into consideration Peoples' Votes in finding the winners.
