The Real Deal

UTV Bindaas’s Emotional Atyachaar,which has returned with a successful second season,recieved over 99,000 applications from viewers who wanted to put their partners through the show’s loyalty test. Kiran Bedi’s Aap Ki Kachehri on Star Plus had two seasons and also witnessed a deluge of applications to be on the show. Rakhi Ka Insaaf has already recieved a number of cases within days of its launch. “People need credible mediators. Our society is full of the kind of problems that were addressed by AKK. The manner in which the show spread awareness was unique. It engaged,educated and empowered society. People trusted the credibility of the show,” says Bedi. Anupam Vasudev,EVP marketing,Star India,adds,“People will go to that length and share their experiences on TV only if the medium promises to stay true to the agenda and relevant issues.”

Shilpi Kakkar,a 24 year old HR professional from Delhi,who had filed an application to be on AKK,believes that for different sorts of personal problems audiences would like to approach different types of mediators. “I had a financial dispute in my family,so I approached Kiran Bedi to help me solve my problem. I would never consider taking a problem of this serious nature to Rakhi. I feel that she would be apt when it comes to problems like love affairs,eve teasing or extra-marital affairs,” adds Kakkar. Television content developers believe that the transformation of reality television towards becoming more audience-centric,was inevitable. “The audiences are highly discerning today. When they watch a celebrity on a reality show,they know not to believe everything. But,when it comes to someone like them,they relate to the content better,” says Nitin Gandhi,business head of UTV Bindaas. “People want shows based on them and their problems. We went to colleges and discovered that love affairs are a major concern in the students’ lives. That is when we decided to come up with Emotional Atyachaar.” Sawant,who claims her life is an open book,adds,“Celebrities want their private lives to be hidden. They like to play to the camera. Even their reality is unreal.”

In many ways,Sawant has emerged as the reigning queen of reality television. Her journey exemplifies the common person’s shot to fame through the small screen. Imagine realises the potential of Rakhi’s mass appeal and is banking on her for churning high TRP. They also believe that her presence in the show will pose a tough competition for other celebrity reality shows like Priyanka Chopra’s Khatron Ke Khiladi 3,Salman Khan’s Bigg Boss,Akshay Kumar’s Master Chef and Amitabh Bacchan’s Kaun Banega Crorepati,which will air in October along with Rakhi Ka Insaaf. “Audiences identify with Rakhi,and consider her as one of them. So when when Moti Sagar and I AM productions came up with the idea of the show,we knew that she would be the right person. She was our first and last choice,” says Harsh Rohatgi,head content and communication,Imagine TV. Gandhi agrees that the new reality genre where real people are central will rule the trend,but adds “Celebrities will still be important. Nobody wants to see a commoner jump of a cliff and do action stunts. That’s where celebrities come in. But for issues which are more personal and real,audiences relate more to real people.”