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ENTERTAINMENT
From scandals to slug fests to sizzle, the small screen had viewers glued to it,
You cannot deny that it
was one long, maddening year for TV. In the span of one year, we were
flung from the glory of world championships — the Waka Waka World
Cup and the Commonwealth Games — to the low of scams, from the
pinnacles of selfless human achievement to the selfish quagmire of Me
TV. For many leading lights, their dream job turned into a living
nightmare as the medium turned invasive, digging up dirt on public and
private malfeasance. For us humble mortals, lolling around in our
track pants, it continued to entertain and seduce, drawing us in,
warts and all. If any one needed a visionary this year, it was TV.
Who could have foreseen last year that 2010 would bring to the public
eye a list of scams as long as the NH-1? The year was not pretty as
far as breach of trust and dishonesty was concerned. Scams and
swindles dominated the headlines. The IPL, the CWG, the 2G, or was it
3 ji, spectrum saga, the Adarsh housing society and other
assorted land scams — the list was endless. TV did a good job by
tearing into the truth like tissue paper. You name it and there was a
scam hovering close by waiting to be raked up by TV into a melodrama
with more bad guys than good guys. Even in the crowd, though, there
were certain moments that stood out. For instance, the resignations of
former Chief Minister of Maharashtra Ashok Chavan and IOC chairperson
Suresh Kalamadi, kicking and screaming, wildly proclaiming their
innocence. Or NDTV’s Barkha Dutt as she stoutly faced her
inquisitors trying to prove that she had not crossed the line between
journalism and lobbying. Unfortunately, her overbearing responses put
her even more firmly in the doghouse. While Vir Sanghvi, the other
declared offender, perched on a balcony in Bangkok, smoothly offered a
mea culpa of sorts. How’s that for cheesy reality? Moving on,
entertainment TV in the reality TV genre did not give us any ragingly
popular original shows. It seemed that the medium was resistant to
change. We were given, mostly, new seasons of tried and tested
formulas like Kaun Banega Crorepati, Indian Idol, India’s Got
Talent, Sa Re Ga Ma, Bigg Boss, Jhalak Dikhla Ja and Koffee
With Karan full of leggy, flirtatious females. Of course, there
were some dishonourable exceptions to the rule; new shows that ranged
from the unspeakable to the unwatchable like Rakhi ka Insaaf and
MasterChef India. Here, nuances and compelling premises were
strictly prohibited. If you were a fan of either of these shows, you
were a certified medical marvel because either your brain had to be on
neutral or numbed by 12 hours of sms-ing to watch Rakhi oozing out of
her Lycra costumes as she pouted, shouted and tried to separate
warring participants. This stinky-dinky show had the I&B Ministry
suggesting that it should be, along with Big Boss, a late night
band.
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