An open house debate on ‘Reality shows: Exploitative or Talent Hunt’ was organised by the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation in association with Friederich Naumann-Stiftung Fur Die Freiheit at the open air theatre in the Department of Indian Theatre, Panjab University, on Saturday. 

Expressing concern over the increasing popularity of reality shows such as Roadies, Splitsvilla, Bigg Boss and the like, Dr P D Kaushik, associate director of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, objected to contestants showering a torrent of expletives on each other.

“Such shows only promote a disregard for values and result in the collapse of the moral fabric of the society. Channels do not mind exploiting the youth in order to gain TRPs,” he added.

Questioning the “reality of reality shows”, Renuka Salwan, director, public relations, Bureau of Indian Standards, stressed that exploitation of the audience is also inherent in these shows.

She said: “The viewer is tricked into believing that the well-contrived situations and the rehearsed reactions of participants of the show are spontaneous.”

Dwelling on the good and bad aspects of reality shows, management trainer Balwant Gurunay averred about self-censorship. “If we do not like a particular show, we always have the option of changing the channel,” he said.

The acerbic nature of the criticism and comments of judges, which are often too harsh for participants to bear, was pointed out by Suparna Puri, Dean, Chitkara Institute of Mass Communication.

She added that there were umpteen cases in which the contestant either committed suicide or suffered from a nervous breakdown after being humiliated on camera.  

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