Feline Musings

Remixes, Replays and Reality Shows, these are the three R factors that have defined the milestones of modern entertainment, particularly in this decade. And if you may, some enthusiasts would add the Rakhi Sawant factor to this list.

Talking about Remixes they were the rage of the pub-hopping, disco-dancing young generation, who loved the idea of their own set of desi-musical beats to match their steps with. The ability to comprehend and emote Hindi lyrics while thrusting and grinding their pelvis to thumping percussion and eletronica went down very well with the younger audience.

The music remix industry rode the waves of the times, and endless volumes of remixed albums and dance numbers were churned out much to the élan of the neo-party-goers. Along with the audio-album industry, the television industry also received a great impetus with every other artist/DJ coming up with an album and a suggestive video to go with it. Television programs featuring top remixes and top pop songs of the week were widely watched.

It was also the time when the tribe of “item girls”, who have today become the star feature of all Bollywood movies, emerged. We may recall that our popular item girl, Rakhi Sawant, was also launched via a dance video, featuring a remix of the Amitabh and Rekha original – Pardesia. However, there were as many Western songs that one could remix with Indian numbers, and as many songs that one could rehash in the face of radical opposition from old-timers like Asha Bhosle and Lata Mangeshkar, to name a few. Slowly, remixes became passé but item numbers, i.e. thumping music usually with raunchy lyrics, featuring item girls became a staple of all Bollywood movies, and music directors like Himesh Reshammiya started creating remix versions of their songs, in movie albums.

Replays have mostly been associated with the game of cricket, but their greatest use was made in Ekta Kapoor ke K-walle serial. Never before has any other style of cinematography been used with such extreme results as to push a serial beyond 200 episodes. In the absence of a storyline, in the obligation to feed the addicted masses with their daily dose, in the desire to rake the maximum sponsorship mullah, Ekta Kapoor perfected the art of replay.

Hence, each bat of the eyelid and every trickle of a tear, the smudge of the sindoor and the sweat drop on the forehead, the teeth-gnashing and the shock, the breaking of the bangles and the flutter of the curtains, the shuffle of footsteps and the boiling of the milk, every single shot was shown three consecutive times in a swift replay, accompanied by music to suit the scene. Each replay – dhish-dhish-dhish – emphasized the severity of the situation, the seriousness of the matter, the wasting of the time of the jaw-dropping viewers. The saga of the R factor of replays on modern television continues with news channels replaying for 25 minutes, a 3- minute clip and script, and reality shows also adopting the tactics of stills and replays.

That brings us to the third most important R factor, the Reality Shows, and the reason why I actually wrote this blog, because I am wondering what will be the next stage in television after the audience has had enough of these so-called Reality Shows. “So-called”, because by now most of us have understood that these shows are scripted and seek publicity in the name of scandals and orchestrated incidents. And, alas the public memory is so short that we aren’t even asking what happened to the Anupama Verma and Aryan Vaid love affair that began in Big Boss 2, or any of these numerous scripted affairs, quarrels, tantrums, injuries and melodrama on TV.

Reality dance shows are another subset of these reality programs, where we can never be sure of whether the audience vote actually counts or is it again a well-scripted televised drama. I can’t help but recall the first Nach Baliye show, in which the final competitors, Rajyahsree and Varun Badola actually forgot their steps on stage and were hence defeated. The question is if such an exit was scripted, then why strong performers would agree to bow out. The answer may lie in the money that they are offered.

The latest controversial statement comes from a contestant in MTV Splitsville, claiming that the contest winners are decided on the Director’s casting couch. Reality show “Sach ka Saamna” also seems an eye-wash with the polygraph test done behind the scenes and the contestants feigning surprise and acting their part during the show. I guess the only Reality Shows, which are not scripted are quiz shows like “Kaun Banega Crorepati” and “Kya Aap Paanchvi Paas se Tez Hai?”

Whatever is the reality or the fallacy behind these shows, the pertinent question is “How long will the age of the Reality Shows last?” Isn’t it high time that the audience says no to these serials and demand educative, creative, and value-based entertainment? It’s also a shame that most of these shows are carbon copies of their foreign counterparts. So much for originality, specially in Indian television, because all that we are doing is aping the West, be it plugging in western beats to create remixes, or stealing the concept of never ending soap operas, in the league of The Bold and The Beautiful or for that matter copying all the reality shows. Even Rakhi Sawant ka Swayamwar, is “inspired” by the serial – “Daisy of Love”.

This also reminds me that Rakhi Sawant ka Swayamwar is much talked about with everyone wondering whether she will actually marry on the 2nd of August. While many believe that the drama queen will come up with some melodrama on the given day and get away from committing, the fact is that she has already let the cat out of the bag. In an interview to Headlines Today, she has clearly stated that this is a Swayamwar, an ancient method of selecting the groom; hence she will only select the groom, and will enter a period of courtship. So much for our Reality Show lovers, who suspect that there is hardly any reality in the show but always succumb to the fast one that is being invariably pulled on them!

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