Reality wave hits Indian television

Manu A B in Mumbai

Is the era of soaps and family dramas on television coming to an end? Do people prefer a reality show to a prolonged television drama?

Yes! The times are a-changing and the buzzword today is reality shows. These shows are all about formats and television programme producers see a huge opportunity in India for them.

So what are formats and how do they work wonders for broadcasters? With the unprecedented success of programmes like Kaun Banega Crorepati on Star Plus and Indian Idol on Sony, it has been proven that formats are a huge success in India.

KBC and Indian Idol have made history in terms of people's participation and have been great revenue generators as well.

Fabulous formats

The excitement of putting up a show like Indian idol reflects in the elucidation of Sanjiv Sharma (of Optymystix Productions) on what constitutes formats. "Formats can either be dramas or non-dramas. A drama could be something like the Jassi Jaise Koi Nahin and the best illustration of a non-drama programme is Indian Idol. But the fact is there is a lot of drama in non-drama formats, which leads to the programme's success,"

Sharma said at the session on 'Building successful formats' at the annual entertainment event Frames 2005 organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Mumbai.

"The best thing about a reality show is that it is real, it is interactive: the viewers could decide who would be the Indian Idol," he adds.

"Reality shows see the dreams of millions of Indians come true. They relate to the characters who appear on the shows, and this makes the shows more meaningful than any tearjerker. The money-spinners can be in the form of quiz shows, panel shows, celebrity guest shows which give the audience the power to decide the next move and also be a part of the great show," explains Sharma.

The concept of a format show has evolved over the years; it varies from in different places. And yes, formats work wonders.

"There have been shows like Khulja Sim Sim, a remake of the American show, Let's Make A Deal. Here the viewer could play and participate in the show. Same with the case of Kismey Kitnaa Hain Dum, a remake of famous British hit, Night Fever. It featured a karaoke contest where viewers could sing along.

"The best part about these shows is that the viewers went through the trials and tribulations of the participants. Indian Idol was a complete reality show: a reality show and a talent show as well! It was a result of a cleverly constructed screenplay, which empowered the audience to select their personal favourites so it clicked," Sharma says.

Idol worship

When Freemantle India came to India with the idea of launching Indian Idol, the company never imagined that it would take the country by storm.

A remake of the famous hit, Pop Idol, which has set record in all countries, registered historical ratings in India as well.

The ingredients of an ideal reality show is simple, "It must appeal to all. It is a craft, it is a drama that unfolds in front of you," says Gavin Wood, director of production, India Freemantle Media.

"The idea should be original and entertaining. The best part of a reality show is that it guarantees success and there are valuable lessons to be learnt about viewer's tastes and preferences. The reality shows makes sure that the dreams come true and the risk of shattering the dreams of many others," says Wood, who has tried and tested the format in other Asian countries as well.

Humility was the key to the success of Indian Idol, says Nikhil Alva, Chairman, Miditech, one of India's leading production houses.

"It was difficult to change the 'reality sucks in India mindset.' It was a 24x7 nightmare to produce a programme like Indian Idol," says Alva. Indian Idol has changed the mindset of the broadcasters who are more open to reality formats, which are certain to click.

Wood says that the only thing to keep in mind is, "The format should be tested and proven, the content has to be localised, the format should not be altered as small changes can bring far reaching effects."

"India was an interesting market for us. It was challenging because it wasn't just a singing competition; the size of the production was huge. Dealing with the crowd, collecting the votes was difficult as we received 35 million votes for the last episode," Wood reveals.

Chances of copying exist but the chances of failures are 90 per cent as people favour only the original show.

After the huge success of Indian Idol, Freemantle Media plans to host in India one of their most popular shows later this year. "We are planning to introduce The Apprentice, later this year. The show will be telecast on the Star network," says Wood.

Agrees Anupama Mandloi, program director, Sony TV, "Reality show is a huge market in India. The search for memorable characters was difficult. We knew that anything to do with music and Bollywood would be addictive. Our success proved that 'reality is stranger than fiction'."

Indian formats

"Made-in-India formats have their own charm. It is all about people's participation, journey to fame and a lot of passion and emotion," says Tarun Mehra, vice president (marketing) Zee Network. Highlighting the reality shows on Zee Network, Tarun Mehra said that formats as simple as Antakshari have proved that India has the potential to develop and sustain such formats.

"Antakshari was born on September 3, 1993 and is the oldest running format show in the country with about 600 episodes. More than a million people across the world have auditioned for it. Another success has been Sa Re Ga Ma, which also brought talented singers like Shreya Ghosal to the forefront at a very early age. The recent Cinestar Ki Khoj introduces young talent to the glamorous world of Bollywood.

Announcing Zee's next mega plan, Mehra said, "Our next reality show will be Business Baazigar, which the catch-line -- Idea lao, Paise le jao -- a game which will test the intellectual and entrepreneurial capability of people of different age groups. The whole idea is to bring forth the power of an idea and provide them the finance to take off," says Mehra.

Agrees Wood, "India has a great potential to produce its own formats. We may discover some formats that existed earlier and got sidelined or forgotten. We can work on them as well. Indian formats have the potential to go global as the passion and creativity in India grows in the years to come. This will drive the growth of the television industry in India."

Cramer called it a "distraction" which took audiences minds off important things in life. However, he congratulated Indians who have somehow managed to remain beyond most of the "Big Brothers", "Bachelors" and "Survivors" and more power to Indians for that! Are Indian networks still wary of reality TV shows and "soaps" which have scaled peaks of pop?

In India, the reality television scene has been making waves due to individual efforts of players such as AXN. AXN derived tremendous mileage from bringing Mike Whitney down last year to host a series of Who Dares Wins India Specials.

AXN's Rohit Bhandari (extreme right) with the winners of the India leg of Who Dares Win

Whitney sure created quite a stir during his India visit and attracted hordes of youngsters and young-at-hearts"! Spotting a market in this niche area Zee also launched the its Reality TV channel on 1 February.

But what about the latest breed of "reality merging with fiction" kind of programmes which can be shown on general entertainment channels? What is the reaction of Indian programming executives to the success of programmes such as Joe Millionaire, Bachelor, Bachelorette in the west? Will such a tightly structured reality show (in formula and execution) which typically sets its participants into a narrative mostly plotted out before the tape ever rolls, ever succeed in India?

AXN India's vice president, sales and marketing Rohit Bhandari says: "There has been no real history to prove that shows like Bachelor, Bachelorette, Joe Millionaire would not work in India. The popularity of these shows will depend a lot on the kind of marketing that goes behind it and the way the show is built up. Though one would get this feeling as to why should an Indian bother about what is happening with someone in America. But as long as the viewers are made aware about the show and the show is entertaining and provides viewers with what they are looking for, there is no real reason why these shows should not do well."

However, in India very few are thinking about such shows after the debacle of the Madhuri Dixit show in 2002. A Sony Entertainment Television (SET) India spokesperson says: "The important thing is that programmes work in a context and an environment. Dating is not part of the Indian cultural milieu and is not a concept that television-viewing families would relate to."

Abroad, the recent successes have resulted in optimism and new plans have been formulated. Sky's Reality channel 'Sky One Real' will be launched early this summer, states a Digital Spy report. The network holds the rights to many home-grown series such as the ...Uncovered strand and imported series such as Temptation Island and Boot Camp, all of which could make appearances in the new channel's schedule.

The UK's first dedicated reality channel, 'Reality TV', made its debut in October last year. The station immediately reported ratings as high as 70,000, a respectable figure for a minority digital channel. It has already made a presence in India on the Zee-Turner platform. Of course there are still distribution issues that need to be sorted out first, before any talk of ratings can even begin for the India venture.

Survivor Amazon contestant Joanna Ward

Since CBS's Survivor rushed to the top of the Nielsen ratings three years ago, network executives have known that reality shows can be enormously popular, stated a New York Times report in the beginning of the year.

American Idol on the Fox network, led the way, drawing 25 million viewers two nights running and becoming the most-watched non-sports shows in the network's history.

A New York Times op-ed article by Catherine Orenstein says that the most recent crop of reality television shows taps the fantasies we first learned from fairy tales: castles and fortunes, true love and romantic destiny, and above all that most perfect storybook union, the ''fairy tale wedding.''

Not only will reality shows continue to flood network's schedules next fall, but television executives were also predicting such developments as an end to the traditional television season. Instead of the time-honored formula of introducing shows en masse in September and ending them in May, broadcast networks want to stagger the shows' debuts and banish repeats from the schedule almost entirely, the Times had reported.

In the US, however, a new poll indicates that the viewer is starting to tire of Big Brother and Survivor. Though TV ratings paint a different story, the InsiderAdvantage survey of 1,000 adults conducted between 28 February and 4 March indicates that America's affection for the reality TV genre may be coming to an end. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus three per cent.

When asked: "Are you becoming tired of so-called reality television programmes?" 67 per cent of respondents said "yes," 22 per cent said "no," and 11 per cent did not know or did not answer. Thirty-two per cent of respondents in the 18-to-29 year age group said they were not tiring of reality TV, the highest positive percentage. However, even among this youngest segment, 63 per cent said they were becoming tired of the genre. And all other demographic segments indicated a strong future trend away from such programming, according to the survey.

However, this does not mean that the ratings will be poor for the reality television shows which will air in the US in the near future. It will probably be several months before the public really starts to rebel against the reality concept. And even then, if the alternatives are other reality programmes or the ultimate reality - war coverage - viewers may well continue to keep these programmes hot.

The desirable "Joe Millionaire" - Evan Marriott

InsiderAdvantage chairman and syndicated columnist Matt Towery has been quoted as saying that cable programmers would do well to keep in mind the term 'becoming'. Just like the Who Wants to be a Millionaire craze had to end, this second phase of reality television may be heading for the home stretch by the end of the year. In India, of course, Star Plus will most likely not renew the Indian version of the show Kaun Banega Crorepati. However, the success of Channel [V] Popstars and the girl band Viva it spawned has already inspired the network to plan the launch of similar shows in 2003.

"However, reality shows and studio based game shows could be revised in concept to meet the cultural requirements. The reality show concepts will work if they belong to the Indian ethos and are executed keeping in mind the sentiments and beliefs of the people. Anything that offends the sensibilities will not go down well with the viewers," says a SET India spokesperson.

So will the future see reality shows with a touch of soap-element in terms of tight scripts, twists and turns? Reality merging with fiction to ensure viewer interest?

"That sounds like a definition for docu-dramas which have worked extremely well for our channel. We have had Bhanwar and Missing - two shows that have combined reality with fiction and successfully recreated scenarios that have appealed to the viewers," says the SET spokesperson.

AXN's Rohit Bhandari adds: "Reality with a touch of the soap element, is already happening, though the content is packaged heavily around being a reality show. For example the Amazing Race on AXN is one such example as it is not just a reality show with people racing around the globe but it also has some elements of a
drama building up in the form of inter personal relationships between team mates and teams."

"There are twists and turns that keep developing as the show progresses and there are instances where a team that is leading in one episode, might just lose their way and could probably get knocked out in the next episode and vice versa. Instances like this bring out a lot of drama and emotion within the show and make for interesting viewing," says Bhandari.

Western media analysts claim that the perverse charm of Joe Millionaire is that it's so upfront with viewers about its dishonesty -- which makes it among the most honest of the reality-TV genre. Will Indian TV programming executives have the nerve to showcase such "real" dishonesty?

There is something or the other we hear each and everyday whether it is about soaps or reality shows. Giving something new everyday has become a part and parcel of TV. Gossip is what we are interested in and we have a lot of it coming everyday. Now we are giving a sneak peep into what is happening in Ek Se Badhar Ek…

Wild card entries in Zee TV Ek Se Badhkar Ek:

Abhishek Awasthi who’s claim to fame is Rakhi Sawant’s hapless boyfriend is desperately trying to make a mark of his own in the tinsel town. Though he managed to catch the eyes of the Zee TV’s Ek Se Badkar Ek team and got an entry into the show to showcase his caliber but to his utter dismay got eliminated when he was pitted against Kushal Punjabi in the final round. After a volley of angry exchange with Judge Ahmed Khan he was voted out. The obstinate guy simply refused to believe that he was ousted from the show. For this self proclaimed best dancer it was impossible to digest the fact that Kushal proved to be better than him.

Now the grapevine is abuzz that Abhishek is making a wild card entry into the show again (sympathy votes…as our esteemed judge Abhijeet would say) along with a new partner Meenal Jain.

We spoke to Abhishek regarding the wild card entry and he said, “I got eliminated wrongly and probably that day was not a good day for me. Anyways Kushal had to get it and he is good. This is a competition and everyone needs to have the spirit. But on public demand, I will make a re-entry and I feel very good about it. It is not easy to make a re-entry and since I have another chance, I have a bigger challenge and things are not going to be all that easy. The expectations will rise and my performance should be better than ever before. Anyways I want to give my best and hope this second chance will be in my favour”.

The other two jodi’s making a wild card entry are Mussarat Abbas (of Saregamapa Challenge 2007 fame) and Sanober Kabir and Aishwarya and Aanchal Dwivedi. With the fresh lot of participants the competition is sure going to hot up..!! Let’s see whether Mr. Awasthi gets lucky for the second time

We’ll also look forward to another season of fleeting romance (exit Sumedha, enter Meenal…..!!. All the new jodis are very kicked to compete with each other and showcase their talent not only in front of the judges but the entire nation. Now the show is on with seven jodis in all standing tall against one another.

The special guests for the evening were none other than Manoj Bajpayee, Ganesh Acharya and Hansika Motwani to promote their forth coming movie, Money hai toh Honey hai. Apparently Bhojpuri Badshah, Ravi Kishen, is also a part of the venture.

Jasveer works on her outfit!

The reality show has reached a stage wherein each week, every individual wants to perform something innovative and also try to look very different from what they have been appearing in the past episodes. This week the case was a little different…probably a sudden competition had cropped up between the two dancing queens, Jasveer and Shayantani.

In the course of presenting something different, both of them have started wearing minimal attires. Earlier it was only the Naaginn (Shayantani) who insisted on wearing revealing clothes. Taking a leaf from her book our very own Pavitra (Jasveer Kaur) decided to share all her inhibitions and don the sexy chick avtaar. So, Ms Kaur decided to wear this dangerously low cut top to look appealing and sexy. Infact she insisted the designer to make it even low. However her dressing didn’t go down too well with the creative team of Zee TV. After all Ek Se Badkar Ek is a family show. So after lot of thinking a similar colour neck patch was used to cover the same. Though not too happy with the decision, Jassi had no option but to bow down to the demands of the channel.

When contacted Jasveer was clueless and said, “I have no idea and there was nothing that happened. I am the one who decides what I wear and people are comfortable about it. And there was no such a thing where people felt awkward or uncomfortable with my outfit. May be something happened with someone else but not me”.