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Journalism of Courage
Dares You Fridays, 10.30pm, a take-off on Who Dares Wins, being telecast on AXN TV 8.30 p.m., comes minus the thrills. But don8217;t be disappointed: there are more frills in store for the Indian audience in the form of less clothing and more flesh!
In one of the episodes, a boy was seen stripping while dancing to a scintillating number at the Delhi discotheque Mirage and subsequently, he was thrown out by the management. For this daring8217; act he won a award of Rs 2,000. Similarly, in another episode, an office executive, carrying a bucket of water, walked towards the inner circle of Connaught Place, took off his shirt, pant and tie and took a bath in the centre of the plaza. The executive said he enjoyed the public bath and claimed it was a once in a life-time experience but what about those who had to watch him washing himself?.
V Dares You claims to make people do 8220;things that they have never done before8221; and 8220;leave viewers talking about it8221;. Well, we8217;re certainly talking about it, but remember, talk is cheap. What exactly is the idea behind the show: is it to shock you, is it pure exhibitionism, or is it really entertainment?
Rohit Vaid, supervising producer and head of Channel V in Delhi, claims that though the show is little on the edge, it is not supposed to hurt the sentiments of the people. 8220;This kind of stuff actually happens in our society, it8217;s the harbinger of total corruption of our society and we are just trying to be real,8221; he asserts, adding that 8220;our sole idea is to entertain the youth as the channel targets them.8221;
Challenging Vaid8217;s defense of the show, Sapna Khurana, who is an ardent Channel V viewer, asks how many times has he Vaid seen executives taking a bath at a public place or someone stripping in a discotheque?. 8220;This kind of thing is not acceptable and does not gel with Indian morality, culture or sensibility,8221; she adds, somewhat sanctimoniously. Similarly, another viewer, Chetna, feels that 8220;they are taking matters too far. You can8217;t forget that you are living in India.8221;
Well, forget about Indians: hee8217;s what one foreign lady present at Mirage while the stripping sequence took place, had to say: 8220;These things are OK in the West. I have seen something like this for the first time in India which is very shocking and disgusting.8221; Shocking yes, but disgusting?
And what do the police have to say? Referring to Section 292 and 294, S.K. Jain, Additional Commissioner of Police Crime, says: 8220;Our hands are tied. We can take action only after someone complains that his/her sentiments are being hurt. Moreover, what is obscenity? It8217;s upto the society to decide. What we may feel is obscene, today8217;s generation find quite normal.8221;
There have been positive reactions to the show: 8220;Man, that8217;s cool8221;, said a college kid, who really enjoyed the stunts. 8220;They have good bodies, they were looking really dashing and we find it very cute8221;, felt a girl after seeing the two boys striptease at Janpath.
Vaid denies that the show is along the lines of AXN8217;s Who Dares Wins, 8220;When the channel was planning the revamp, we thought of inculcating the real element and dare people to do things. And ChanneZl V Dares You was born.8221;
Asked if the show is likely to influence the youth, Vaid replies: 8220;Nowadays, the youth is too mature to be affected so easily.8221; Wonder what the older generation thinks about that 8212; and the show.
AXN8217;s Who dares Wins is quite famous or notorious in the West. It remains to be seen whether Channel V deserves to be hailed for its innovative8217; ideas or lambasted for its poor taste.
