Give me a break

Saas Bahu dramas seem to be a passé now. What rules Indian television at the moment is a slew of talent hunt shows – most or in fact all of them based on music. So you have a Sa Re Ga Ma Pa (in Hindi, Marathi and may be all other regional languages too), Indian Idol, Fame Gurukul, Voice of India and so on.
Following the same theme is not new to Indian television. Like when it’s makeovers, they happen in each and every soap opera. When there are generation leaps they again happen in each and every serial. Hardly surprising actually, because most of them are products of the same factory, the one run by the Queen of Soaps, a certain Ms Kapoor.
One lazy Sunday afternoon when I happened to switch on the television (guess I should rephrase it a little, for it was Sunday afternoon alright, but a lazy one, may be not. For a journo, Sunday means work) and there I was, being bombarded with a whole lot of these talent hunt shows, mind you on each channel, one after the other. And the participants all looked the same. The females over made up, wearing garish clothes one would think twice before wearing to a pub, and the men all with hair boasting of shades of brown, burgundy, purple, red, in short anything but black.
And then there was the gang of judges, all going by varied names depending upon the creative or not so creative side of the producers. While some prefered calling them prinicipals, some called them gurus, others termed them mentors. Nonetheless, they were all the same. Arguing, shouting, blaming, and if you think all this for the performance, you are wrong. For they did it to each other.
And then one was left wondering – what are these platforms for – to showcase the talent of singers? If so, why on earth do these guys have to do all this – right from going in for that makeover to crying at the drop of a hat?
One is reminded of some of the old timers, shows that were yet to be given fancy names like reality shows or talent shows, ones that purely showcased talent, minus the looks, the sobs and the money.
Like the old Sa Re Ga Ma, minus the pa, which I have now started believing simply stands for plain pain, which the show is becoming day by day.
The old Sa Re Ga Ma hosted by Sonu Nigam had participants who were performers in their own right. Most were hardworking individuals, with an intense orientation in music, who did not care how their hair looked like as long as the swar was right. Several of them have today made a name for themselves, albeit in their own local circuits – Bela Shende, Hrushikesh Ranade, Prajakta Joshi-Ranade are all names to reckon with in Pune’s music circles. And there might be several like these in other regions too.
The Ranades also made a re-entry in the new Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, as a couple. With the makeover, the two looked funny, almost grotesque and disappeared from the show within a few weeks, without a trace.
Then there was Meri Awaaz Suno, one of the first shows of its kind, on good old DD. The show gave Bollywood, the diva - Sunidhi Chauhan, who won the show as a kid, in a frilly frock.
So here is just a tiny request to all these so-called promoters of talent. Please preserve the sanctity of the art. Stop commercialising itt by trying to turn people into sensations overnight. It is years of dedication, hard work and much more that goes into making stalwarts. You guys are simply belittling their efforts by these shows.