Jan 22, 2007

big boss/brother/game

Big Boss ho ya iska original version Big Brother emotions run everywhere. And they run a full marathon, just like any k series time-killer.

Reality Game show - it says all. They show reality, but in the end, it's just a game. You are there just to win. And when faced with such a situation, there is no distinction between means and ends. You do what you want to. It may be called your arrogance, or hypocrisy or politics. Who cares. Guru says it right "Naa mujhe sunai nahi deta."

So what Shilpa did there, is no different. She played the game and she played it well. Only thing is that emotional junta faltoo me apni taang ada di. And the issue (actually there would not have been an issue at all) got blown out of proportion.

So was there any mistake in the whole controversy?
Yes, there were lots of mistakes committed.
Let me list out the charges against all the parties:

1. Jade Goody and gang: Overly display of hate for Shilpa. If they hated her, they should have played the game properly and got her eliminated in the early stages only. There was no need for repeatedly abusing Shilpa. Some of the words they used were, indeed, provoking.

2. Channel 4 and producer for the show: If they are really committed for the anti-racism cause, they should not have shown those clippings on the show. When you edit so much, why could you not remove the controversial clips.

3. Shilpa: It was all part of game. Didn't she know that she might face such situation. It is well known that western people still can not take us third world people as their equals. And at many a times we have given befitting replies to shut them up. Never forget Bangalored.
She played the game by crying in front of camera. She must have seen some episodes of Big Boss, specially the one with Roopali's rona-dhona.
If you see, she did play the game well. She was able to eliminate Jade after the big controversy. Emotions ruled the voting trends. Her victory was termed no less than India's triumph in first test match in SA in recently concluded series. She became a queen overnight.

4. Media: Media surely blew this controversy out of proportion. All the channels applied all their resources to find out more about the issue. Everything from Jade's history to Big Boss's sponsor were news items in the days of controversy. Print Media as well Internet played their role in the same. The issue could have been solved very easily if the media had not portrayed it to such a heinous crime.

5. Indian and British government: Politics killed the sense. Upcoming polls made it compulsory for British politicians to come out and clarify their stands on the issue, though hardly there is any doubt that they could tell anything else. Indian government also over-reacted to issue. Now it seems that on the international stage we are very confused about the stand we should take on any issue.

I think it was a just a game and played well. Only that viewers got involved to an extent which is far out of their expected reach. As cliched the saying is "Love, War and Game me everything is allowed," but this is the bitter truth.

1 comment:

Kishore Sainath said...

When you put the lives of a group of people from where the whole world can see them unfold, you need to be prepared for their reactions as and when things happen.

Didn't the folks at Channel 4 know that "halla tho machne hi wala hai"?
We, Indians are very vocal about any issue.

So did we over-react?, maybe a little.