I saw umpteen number of blog posts bashing up the entire concept and execution of the now infamous show “rakhi ka swayamar”. That by itself conveys the fact that it has achieved which any tv show would want – attention. This is not a post to glorify the program, but to see it in a different perspective and not shun it completely for invalid reasons.
1. TRP and Ad revenue – It doesnot matter if you watch it becoz u love it or becoz u hate it…what matters is whether u watch it or not. That way, it has certainly worked wonders. The TRP ratings are quite high which obviously means that the ad revenues pour in. In short, a success for the organizers if purely seen as just any other tv show.
2. Entertainment Vs Sensibility – Since when did the indian audience demand sense in the shows ? They need serials that tug at their emotional chords, reality shows which either a dark horse must win, or those with hot hunks and divas with attitude. You can make them to do all circus acts, or make them bitch about each other or make them laugh, cry, romance and wht not and we would gulp it all down with zeal and await with licking lips for more. Coz that is entertainment for us. We believe it and yes, we are most keen to know about other’s lives. Even if it is all staged, who cares ? It satisfies my daily dose of reality show!
3. Insult of the institution called marriage – For once, assuming that the entire show is indeed true and she ends up marrying one of those jokers, i dont see the entire execution as an insult to the institution of marriage. For ex, compare it with any typical arranged marriage setting that happens across households in india. Its just a larger than life and better version of the same drama that happens in the confines of a home. By any standard, rakhi would get to know more about the suitor than if she had agreed for an arranged marriage. So, it is bad but better than the more popular and accepted way of marriage.
4. Suitors – Coming to the heros who occupy the centre stage, you must be kidding if you feign ignorance about the sheer celeb power that exists in india. You must see the fan mail and phone calls that knock their homes. The instant mob that gathers in 2min on the news of a celeb in the neighbourhood, just to have a peek at them. So, if given a shot to actually wed one of them, it is only expected for people to apply in dozens. Just like how a sw engr seeks a gride/groom from IT industry, the suitors are also pretty much aspirants of the glamour industry. Thry either end up marrying a celeb or lose to gain their 2min of fame, giving interviews to local mags about their experiences.
5. Rakhi, the entertainer – Rakhi has never claimed to be a social activist nor an intelligent film maker. She asserts her item girl status and being an entertainer for profession. You gotta applaud her guts to entertain people across the world not just with her appearances in movies but also by taking it home into her life ! How better can an entertainer get ! How more seriously can someone take their job ?
In short, its probably a marraige which actually ends up making money ! Unlike every other, where we spend a lot ! After all, the honchos at ndtv imagine are not dumb !
This entry was written by , posted on July 25, 2009 at 5:51 pm, filed under my 2 cents and tagged biz talk, movies, reality show.
Quite a diplomatic post.
Interesting and a well-thought out post.
Rightly said, hate her, love her but you can’t ignore her… she is the real drama queen and we all crib about her but you are right Ranjith, the show is seen by a lot of Junta which is obv by the fact that it enjoys high TRPs and lots of advts…
Though NDTV fell short of ‘Imagination’ they should have also attached a sms system to it-sms for Groom No X if you want him to marry Rakhi.
, would have defi attracted more viewers as it wouyld have added to the drama. There could have been a wild card entry for the grooms ( the programme could have stretched by a few weeks that way), ‘ a few lucky viewers’ could have been given a chance to be a celebrity guest at the wedding etc etc!
The ones who like it can watch it and get entertained, the ones who think its bakwas ( like me) can switch channels.. The Idiot box got something for everyone.
@prateek….yes…had to be, when defending a topic like tht
@pallavi…very nice suggestions ! probably they should hire you as a content consultant…the SMS thing is so obvious, dunno why they didnt do it! They dont call it the idiot box for nothing eh? Why do you think its absolute bakwaas ? Is it to do with content, concept or the character assassination ?
Okay here’s an update on every one’s fav programme- The 3 grooms who are left will be offered a choice ‘Marry Rakhi or take the money money ( ovb big amount) and the grooms choose the latter… and poor rakhi will be left in tears… I can already imagine her script’ Ram Apney dekha na sab ney merey saath dhoka kiya. Jejus ab mein phir sey akeli ho jaoongi….’crap!
Now why I think the show is Bakwas, from where should I even begin, anyway making an attempt: Nothing against her, she is a pukka show girl…
1. Have you seen the participants-I mean lets face it not even worth giving a first look- wonder what was the qualifying criteria.. oh! but there were none ready to participate, the channel had a tough time finding people hence the buzz says that they paid a few models to come on the show. One of them was married, did Rakhi not even bother to check their profiles before the show started if she was so serious about the whole shaddi business. But they would have, how would they have shown the drama, rakhi in tears blah blah….
2. Too much drama to digest- Rakhi and Ravi Kissen didn’t see eye to eye on Big Boss and now he is the official Bhaiyya screening the grooms. The other K serial stars visiting the show- to add the so called glam factor are an authority on who she should marry or not by playing faltoo games. people walking on fire and getting them to make tattoos et all this conveys how non-serious and the who concept is… I mean seriously, what were makers and channel people thinking???
3. Is she really going to be with one of them in the end- I am sure not, and even if she does I can bet their is contract thing involved…and obv she is paid an obscenely huge amount to do the show in first place.. Shows how committed she is towards getting married to any of those characters and how committed the channel is on making this drama look real.
4. Do I need to write more… next time you watch RKS, call me we can do a further dissection of the show
.. Did I watch all these episodes? Oh come on, the trailers, bits in between channel surfing and media reports are good enuf to give me an update.
Like you said, this is one Shaddi where everyone is making money, the bride to be, participants, the channel, producers, sponsors like Neeta Lulla etc and the Junta gets their dose of reality shows. But then isn’t this reel life veiled and presented as reality.
I knew you liked RS
PS: my consultancy services are for very exclusive people, the channel does not qualify for it
@pallavi….nice comment ! equally convincing…first points first ! I am disappointed at the scoop you have presented…lets see if it gets true, though sounds quite plausible….yeah RS wishes to be a politician, and i am really tense about when and how ! You wouldnt believe me if i now say that i despise RS and all the above was purely a argumentative view…would u
I can definitely say that a little amount of scandal needs to be inserted to increase the entertainment value, else the entire program can be wrapped up in 2 episodes! Like i said earlier, they may not be the right suitors for anybody else except her ! Thats the beauty of the collection of those hand picked imbeciles…some authentic, some scandalous, some jokers and you have the recipe for a 12 week run!
I reinstate…its a novel concept + successful TV Show. Needless to say, it has its own set of flaws and its own die hard fans !
Plain fact No. 1: Rakhi Sawant is a kind of person who will go to any levels for garnering publicity.
Plain fact No. 2: No matter how a person gets the publicity, people who are less fortunate (like us) rant about it.
Take it or leave it. If you are a guy, you would have loved to be on the show, even if it meant only acting as a ‘groom-to-be’ and not actually marrying the damsel. If you are a girl, you would have loved to get even half as much of attention as that (un)pretty damsel Rakhi is getting.
I watch it because I love comedy. Of course I cursed it on my blog and I still stand by my opinion. But you cant take the credit away from the girl and also the producers. The show is brilliantly scripted.
Reality TV is not for me
.
Well yeah a concept that catches your eye and creates a buzz and of course the RS factor does the rest.. Though the content is weak, not a very well thought out programme… I guess, they will get better with season-2
hmm.. so RB claims to despise RS, considering I am aware of the fact that you don’t watch the show ( you proved that- you know how) I give you the benefit of doubt!
@ Mayur: I know of someone who actually wanted to be on the show… So I agree with you partially guys do love/like Rakhi though all of them may not admit it.
@Mayur: You want to watch comedy, drama and some real “Reality T.V”, then watch the Parliament channel. It does not have a script like the so called shows on T.V., all actions are impromptu and you will feel a variety of emotions.
P.S. And yes, the actors in it are quite famous.
hoooh…..:) This particular post is catching like wildfire.
Frankly speaking I watched the show only for a few seconds during my lunch break.. that too when I was expecting some important news from the news channel… Can I say it as important news….nah….bcoz they catch hold of some thing that happened in the remotest parts of India..some thing like “An elephant was killed while….” and the video footage keeps playing till they feel the life of the video is over…
Please underatand that “We” dont mind repeated telecasts…”We” will watch the show again and again…:))
But whatever is the case we have to admit the fact that her courage makes her stand apart though it might be a gimmick.
And from the channels point of view, they are providing a masala entertainer which “We” love. “We” are already screwed up in the jobs, so “We” dont want plain vanilla stories… and “We” are perfectly happy with the show
P.S.:By “We” I am representing the viewers as a whole… No wrong interpretations.
@all – a 6+ TRP for the finale last night says it all…and yeah hopefully, the scoop was a lil wrong….abt the money n stuff…which means tht it was propagated to feed online audience like us…pretty neat eh ! RS is tech savvy too :p
@prateek – gud one ! probably the best reality show eh ?