aargh!

reality tv / so-called ‘talent’ tv india style is loud, brash and annoying as hell. whether its nach baliye, jhalak dikhlaja, or ‘sar re ga ma ‘the contestants are usually eager to please, smiling all the time and begging for votes from the great indian middle class through sms. the women are demure and look like the mannequins from saas bahu serials, the men try hard to be likeable by playing the ‘sport’, the hosts shriek instead of speak, the sets dazzle and overwhelm with grossness, the make up makes faces into ghoulish masks, the clothes are horrifying and the judges invariably bollywood.

its trashy tv without any compunctions. none of the talent is even worth mentioning. it’s all a battle for the favours of what is imagined to be the lowest common denominator- the sentiment, the irrationality, the ridiculous regressiveness that is testimony that we expect the worst from ourselves. like the time the blind singer boy who cant really hold a note was ousted from the competition but was gotten back for the sake of ratings and then begged the audience to vote for him “because sound is the only thing he has in his life”

manipulative shtick , did i hear you say?

oh yes.. and yet i sit glued to the damn television set watching mediocrity parade itself in all its brazen glory. it is grinning idiotically at the camera with overly lit toothpaste smiles, hairdos like birds nests, sets in polythene and plaster of paris, clothes of polyester and sequins, and sounds that are screeching like nails on a blackboard from the living room calling me to it.

wait for me, mom.. i want to know who wins!