Reeling from Reality

Sure they dramatise to make it more believable but no more than our news channels who have completely merged reel with real. There’s Karishma Kapoor (in a film scene) standing in the witness box, pleading her case with gathering tears as the Zee news anchor announces that her husband has filed counter charges to hers. Meanwhile, crime has become a cookery lesson; Zee News who had young boy Dilshad, ‘‘tandoor mein bhuna, zinda chhaunk diya’’, like he was a piece of meat. Instant two-minute fame for poor, burnt Dilshad and others like him. Small wonder CNN was famously called Chicken Noodle News.

Celebrities always enjoyed high visibility in the media, but now even the common man has become the object of our curiosity. Each week cultivates a new personality. Until last week, no one had heard of Sarabjit Singh; last week there was no one who had not heard of him. That Sarabjit’s case was a delicate diplomatic affair, and the man involved, an alleged Indian spy, did not inhibit news channels. They set up headquarters at his village and appointed his two daughters official family hagiographers: ‘‘Our father who art in a Pakistan jail, be thou a simple farmer…’’ or words to that effect. He could have been cobbler and no one would have cared, what he represented was important: a media circus opportunity—interviews, studio discussions, village scenes, and Navjot Singh Sidhu doing for Singh what he does for cricket and recently Amritsar – shoot his mouth off.

And, of course, endless SMS opportunities – Channel 7 Newsroom had the happy thought of offering a DVD as a prize to the question: ‘‘Where does Sarabjit’s family live?’’ NDTV asked you to send messages to President Musharraf. Viewers responded with fervour: please be a true Muslim… please have mercy on his family… Mr.President, think of Veer-Zaara… humanity transcends religion and boundaries… General, kindly leave him, you’ll make heaven… President Musharraf should be given sweets from Ajmer… Zee News took credit for the Indian government’s tardy interest in our man in Pakistan when 98 per cent of SMS pollers said ‘yes’ to the question ‘‘Should the Indian government intervene on behalf of Sarabjit?’’

This attempt to involve viewers and bestow upon them a sense of self-importance is a favorite technique: Star News asked us if the love child was Aamir’s, Zee News wanted us to advise poor Karishma on her next move, Vinod Dua (NDTV India) solicited our opinion on 10 years of the mobile phone – through SMS, what else?

It has to be said, that this interactive reality of the countless reality shows across channels is increasingly more sophisticated – and entertaining—than dramas or sitcoms. Those are real singers belting out their numbers on Rockstar, Growing up Gotti sees Mummy Gotti and babalog Gotti slumming it out on expensive sofas while those snails in Fear Factor really do make your skin creep and crawl. Or take almost any show on Travel and Living (favorites like Indian Summer) — there’s more human drama, conflict and emotion in them, than in all the accumulated tears of Parvati who has just lost her husband Om in the popular Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki.

Reality is being stage-managed across channels — that’s show business.