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More controversies, higher TRPs. Small wonder many believe that reality shows are scripted

Rakhi Sawant has nothing to say, she’s on a “no media bytes” mode, or at least that’s what we were told when we tried to get in touch with the reality show veteran. Sawant was part of the inaugural season of Bigg Boss ), chose her beau (and then threw him out) over a few episodes on Rakhi Ka Swayamvar on Imagine (then called NDTV Imagine) and also participated in Pati Patni Aur Woh, a reality show on bringing up kids. But recently, when a participant committed suicide after being humiliated on her show, Rakhi Ka Insaaf (aired on Imagine), the actor decided not to speak her mind.

Imagine has since pushed the show to the 11 pm slot following a directive from the Union information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry — a first for the ministry — to TV channels asking them to change the time slots of shows found to have content unsuitable for a general audience.

Laxman, 25, participated in Rakhi ka Insaaf and spoke problems with his wife Anita. Sawant, as she is wont to do, humiliated him and even called him names in the episode aired on October 23. According to media reports, Laxman could not cope with the trauma, stopped eating and died on November 10. The hungama did wonders to Rakhi’s show. Notching average TVRs (television ratings points, represent one per cent of viewers in the surveyed area in a given minute.) of 2.5, the show had TVRs of around 4 when the controversy broke

Audiences seem to love such controversies, which explains why TRPs, and advertiser money, goes up with each such fracas. And this year, 2010, has shown just how far reality shows can go, if given a free-hand — they’ve made participants cry, and embarrassed and humiliated them. Controversies are, of course, not new to reality shows.

But not everyone supports the I&B directive. Bollywood director Farah Khan tweeted against the ruling, saying it was hypocritical and that parents should take responsibility for what their children watch.

Reality shows like Bigg Boss have always been in news for their choice of participants. Bigg Boss (season 3) winner Vindhu Dara Singh reasons, “Contestants are chosen based on their personalities and the show’s producers make sure that 14 different characters enter the house. How else will the show generate any content for the audience if everybody pretends to be goody-goody?” He believes that contestants like Kamaal Rashid Khan, Sambhavna Seth, Rakhi Sawant and Dolly Bindra were picked in each season of Bigg Boss as they had a reputation for “calling a spade a spade”.

Reality show contestants maintain that they are not given a script to follow, but the choice of participants is often such that it stirs mischief. After all, it doesn’t take too much to imagine the effect a scantily-clad Pamela Anderson would have on the TVRs of Bigg Boss 4.

UTV Bindass scored big with its reality show Emotional Atyachaar that takes on undercover assignments to expose unfaithful partners. Rolly Kapoor was the first to invite the channel to spy on her husband. “My husband works as a cabin crew in an airline and is surrounded by good looking air-hostesses. Wouldn’t that make a married woman insecure?,” she asks. While her husband, Dharam, came out clean, Rolly asserts that she wasn’t acting on a director’s cue. The couple has since sorted out their differences.

Emotional Atyachaar worked wonders for UTV Bindass, says Nikhil Gandhi, the channel’s business head who refuses to be drawn into a debate about controversies over reality shows being “planned and scripted”.

Pravesh Rana, who participated in Bigg Boss 3 rubbishes all suggestions that reality shows are scripted. “I am hosting Emotional Atyachaar, have hosted Chak Dhoom Dhoom and participated in Bigg Boss 3. I have been on both sides and I know there’s no script to follow.”

Even Dolly Bindra, who was eliminated from Bigg Boss 4 for her abusive language, insists that she wasn’t sent by producers to create a ruckus or scheme her controversial exit. “If I lost my temper on the show then it was because of variety of reasons including the fact that the inmates felt threatened by me.”

Rahul Bhatt, a participant on Bigg Boss 4 who has now been voted out, openly expressed his doubts on the authenticity of Sara Khan and Ali Merchant’s wedding on Bigg Boss recently. Whichever way, in its 42nd week, the show peaked with TVRs of about 9.2 (on weekdays Bigg Boss 4 averages TVRs of about 4.1, source TAM data).

While executives from leading GECs pleaded that their their names be kept out, one said, “The tried and tested TVR-raker is how badly a participant behaves with other contestants. It inevitably stirs viewer interest.” An executive of a GEC that has been in the news for the risque content of its reality shows says channels do not go looking for sleaze but some amount of manipulation is needed at the editing table to present a programme that has elements to retain viewer. “So if a tumultuous host, an aggressive participant or contestants on the rampage draw viewers and retain them, then every channel will cash in.” This explains why the contribution of reality shows to total programming hours on most channels has grown from a mere six per cent in 2007-08 to about 15 per cent this year.

It’s not hard to see why viewers are glued to reality shows — since in every episode emotions are played up through situations created by the producers. Ex-Bigg Boss contestant Vindhu says, “Every task on the show is such that it brings out the true colours of contestants. And of course, it has to be entertaining since viewers are required to spend their money to vote for contestants on a reality show. The content should thus motivate them to do so.”